Raider R
by AliceStar
Summary: MegaMan, Protoman, Bass and Roll saunter through the carefree days of life, only to have them destroyed by Wily's latest and last creation. But this time around, Roll wants to be a hero...Can she go incognito and fool her brothers and be Raider R?
1. The lazy, carefree days!

**R**a_D_i**E**r _R _

**B**y: _A_l**i**c_e_s**t**a_r_

_-(Megaman & all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R__**

* * *

**_

* * *

The weather had been splendid all month long, blessed with tepid forecasts and climates. Today was no different as the soft breaths of April wind barely nudged even the lightest of shrubbery.

This day was the epitome of a fine spring midmorning; the sky was sapphire and without a trace of feathery white clouds, and the gentle breeze only brought the scents of the multicolored daises into the senses of its passerbyers. Finding the day all but mundane was one teenage boy. He was strolling through his hometown's plaza whistling a merry little tune.

He lightly swung the cream-colored handbag that his sister had put together herself. He had been sent on an errand by his father to retrieve a couple of ingredients for their supper. Occasionally along the way, he had stopped in a couple of mom-and-pop stores to grab himself a bite to eat. He ate just enough to hold himself until his supper.

The teenage boy came to a halt in front of a large diner. The sign read, '_Lou's Italian Restaurant'_ and the boy peered through the diner's front glass window. Everyone in the place was eating something that looked absolutely delicious.

He groaned, feelinghis unsatisfied stomach gurgle, "…Easy there…we'll be home in a couple of minutes…Although I really wish I could just _warp_ home."

Without his cool blue armor, the famous Megaman was able to pass off as just an average, scrawny teenage boy. It had been quite a few years after the eighth Wily war, and to make his children feel more human-like, the doctor had 'upgraded' Rock's almost cherub-chubby frame into that of a slim, active fourteen-year-old boy.

Rock also noticed the fact that he was more so on the short-side, standing at a height around five feet and six inches. But in _no_ way did that stop the new attention that he had been receiving from the opposite sex.

But just like his 'old self', Rock found himself still enchanted with the deep royal blue, and showed this through wearing a thigh-length royal blue tee-shirt and slightly loose worn blue jeans.

Turning around slowly, he gazed to his left and then to his right to see if anyone was watching him, '_Nope, not a single soul_.'

In a flash of blue light, the boy was gone.

* * *

The Light household was just starting another day as its occupants followed their normal agendas. The man of the house himself, Dr.Light, was sitting at his wooden table with a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

He didn't have much elbow room on either side due to the thick stacks of books that were piled nearby. His only daughter, Roll, had finished the first 'shift' of breakfast and was cleaning her favorite iron skillet for the next.

She was in a relatively fair mood due to the fact that her chatty brother had volunteered to get the ingredients for tonight's dinner. Rush as always was curled onto the worn blue rug beside the coffee-drinking doctor. His eyelids were drooping in preparation for his midmorning nap.

The last occupant of the house was more of a visitor than a permanent member. Protoman, known to Blues around the family, (_Mainly the people he likes_.) slowly entered the kitchen as silently as ever. Just as his younger brother, he too had upgrades.

Protoman now had the appearance of a strapping, seventeen-year old boy. He towered over all of the members of his family at a height nearing six feet; the doctor thought it suited his personality better.

And although his frame wasn't quite as twiggy as Rock's, Blues was still lean, but muscular too boot. He had the build of a swift, strong athlete. He entered the room with his normal swagger and his normal attire as well. Deep blue jeans, a red muscle shirt and of course, the snug yellow scarf.

Currently he was void of his helmet, but the opaque blue glasses remained. With a smile, Blues placed a heavy hand upon his father's shoulders, scaring the daylights out of the aging doctor, " Jeez! Blues! How many times have I told you _not_ to do that!"

Blues smiled as Roll laughed; he slipped into a chair, "Aw come on now doc, where is your sense of humor."

Doctor Light held his coffee cup threateningly, "In this coffee cup!"

Roll and Blues laughed, "Whoa, take it easy there, doc." Just as Roll finished pouring Blues his mug of coffee, Rock stormed into the house, practically tearing the door from hinge (_As he's done before_.) " I'm _hooooooome_!"

"Rock, every time you enter or exit this place, half of China knows," Blue said from over his steaming mug.

"…They do not!" Rock cried, missing the joke.

He took a seat beside his brother who he saw smirking at him. Rock patted Rush's head as he smiled at his trusty companion, "Why hello there Rush! Didya miss me? Huh? Didya, boy?"

Blues raised both eyebrows, " If anything he should be talking to _you_ like that."

Rock frowned looking at Blues, " Hey!"

Roll placed the last of the breakfast dishes upon the table in front of her two brothers watching them happily devour their meals. For once she didn't mind Rock's slurps or Blues egging him on for a belching contest. Roll had her mind fixated on other issues.

She always knew that if she wanted to ask for something, she'd have to feed her family first, then ask for it later. They were much more generous after full bellies. Roll began to wreath her hands nervously, '_Well, its now or never, do or die. And besides, how can they say no? Your birthday's tomorrow!'_

"Father?" Roll began sweetly, over the loud clattering of dishes.

Doctor Light gazed up momentarily to set his gaze upon his daughter, "…What is it dear?"

"So..ha—have you been looking at those magazines I've shown you?" Roll asked, looking at her father carefully.

Doctor Light took a sip of his coffee, then, bending to swipe at something upon the floor, pulled a magazine into Roll's view, "This, Roll? Yes I have."

Just as soon as Doctor Light picked up the magazine, Blues plucked it from his fingers. Rock stopped trying to steal the last bacon strip from his brotherand turned his focus upon the item wedged in Blues' fingers, " Hey! Isn't that a girl's magazine?"

Blues glanced at it momentarily then turned to look at the doctor, "…Why yes, it is Rock."

A teasingly smirk played on his lips, as he waved the magazine at his creator, "Why would you be looking at this? …It's obvious that someone has some explaining to do."

Rock giggled, " Dad, why are you reading a _**girl's**_ magazine?"

Then a sly expression crossed his face, " Do you…wanna look pretty for the prom?"

Doctor Light rolled his eyes as he made an attempt to relieve Blues of the magazine, " For Pete's sake Blues! …Sometimes I wonder about you. And you too Rock!"

"You still didn't answer me, doc. You're obviously dodging the bullet."

"…What bullet?" That was Rock for you.

Blues turned to look at him, "…You just lost your right to talk."

"…Roll has been asking me to read these magazines for her birthday," he answered.

"Really?" Rock chirped curiously, " If I had asked you to make me a spaceship for my birthday, would'ya?"

The boy's father sighed, "…No Rock, I wouldn't…"

"Aww!"

"…So then why _are_ you looking at this magazine?" Blues asked, finishing his mug of coffee.

" Because," Light smiled, "She wants an upgrade like yours for her birthday."

The smile suddenly disappeared from Blues' face and Doctor Light took the magazine with no effort. Although Roll couldn't see Blues' face, she knew he wasn't too happy.

For some reason he had always be averse to her getting a similar upgrade like his, or Rock's. Even Rock was able to see that Blues hated the idea of Roll upgrading. Although Roll always noticed that he never told her his reasons.

"No."

" Why not Blues? You got an upgrade and so did Rock! I want to look older too!" Roll cried.

"No," Blues replied in the same stone manner.

"But I--"

"…Call me when dinner's done," Blues stood up and exited the room.

"…So that means," Rock begin solemnly, "… That he forfeited his rights to his bacon strip!"

Rock discarded his plate and went after Blues'. Roll turned to his her father with an obvious façade of unhappiness, "Dad, why does he not want me to grow up? Like him and Rock?"

Light sighed, smiling slightly, "…At times I wish I had a mother for you…to answer all these type of questions. I honestly do not know what Blues is thinking…but be most assured it's for your welfare."

Roll frowned, and her father laughed lightly, "…But do you know what I _really_ think it is? He's afraid."

The blonde looked shocked and turned to face him, "…Of what?"

"That his little sister is growing up."

"But--"

"Roll, do you mind running to the market for me? I'd really like some Chamomile tea with honey after dinner," he smiled, " Then we could talk about this later…by ourselves in the laboratory."

The only female Light-bot smiled, and nodded eagerly, "Of course!"

Roll watched happily as her father placed a couple of dollars in her palms. She scampered out the door, waving at him, "Don't worry! I'll be back before long!"

She flashed her father another one of her sparkling smiles and closed the door gently. The doctor took another sip of coffee and picked up the magazine that read, '_Teen Dream.' _

He couldn't help but smile lightly,"…I never thought I'd be looking at one of these things…but either way…here we go…"

* * *

Rock sighed happily as he exited the kitchen with a much fuller stomach. In other words, the meal would only hold him until diner where he'd eat like a famished maniac again.

Lazily, he glanced out of the front room's window and found Blues standing on their porch. Whenever Blues was standing outside on the porch, it meant that he was thinking.

Rock exited the house to find himself staring at his brother's back. He approached Blues until he was a couple of steps away from him, "…So why do you hate Roll's birthday?"

Although Rock was only able to see the back of his brother's head, he still knew that Blues was smiling, " Rock, I don't hate Roll's birthday."

"Okay then," Rock replied, rocking back on his heels, " So why do you hate the idea of Roll upgrading?"

Blues sighed softly, "…Because…"

Rock raised both eyebrows, " Because--?"

"Because she's a girl."

" So?" Rock huffed, " Of course she is! Even _I_ knew that! But what does that have to do with anything?"

"That means that _if_ she gets those upgrades…there'll be a lot more little boys around here...And I'll have to start polishing my buster more."

Rock cocked his head to the side curiously, " Why's that?"

Blues finally craned his neck to turn and pointedly look at Rock. And although the azure hero was able to find the humor in Blues' words, beyond the surface, he was able to sense a serious undertone, "Because Rock, I'd have to use my buster a whole lot more _often_."

* * *

Just as Roll was humming and skipping merrily towards a local thrifty store, elsewhere a tall boy was trudging through town. His mood was fairly foul, like the scowl that adorned his face.

He snorted lightly as he sidestepped the sidewalk and took to crushing the fuchsia and lavender flowers beneath his feet; the only reason he was out on such a beautiful day was to find a decent anger outlet.

He was strolling aimlessly through town, with his head down, hands jammed in his pockets and eyes narrowed. Anyone who wasn't watching where they were headed bumped into him, and ended up on the floor.

His last victim was a young man who had been carrying a tremendous stack of parcels. The multi-colored boxes towered almost comically a couple of feet above his mangy head.

As he concentrated upon the jiggling stack of boxes, he missed one tall boy pacing directly towards him at twelve o'clock. He smacked right into the mysterious wanderer and went down hard. The boxes flew everywhere and he face-planted into the cement.

The wanderer scoffed, smirking slightly at the sight. Although his smile would better be interpreted as a snarl more than anything, "…Stupid…"

He skillfully darted through all of the fallen merchandize and continued on his path, earning a few stares from nearby pedestrians. Some of the people glared pointedly at him while others flocked around the fallen boy, helping him.

The wanderer finally moved his eyes upward to gaze at the city before him. He gazed around tepidly until his slit-shaped red eyes stopped upon a small, way too cutesy overdone store. It looked like a place that belonged in a child's pop-up book.

"…This place will do nicely," His black armor materialized in a golden flash, causing some nearby people to veer away from him in fear.

He looked to his left and right recognizing the looks upon the people's faces; it was fear. They recognized him as…

…Bass…

Bass couldn't help but widen his fang-laced smile. He turned his attention back towards the ubber-cute store before him. His left hand materialized into his notorious buster and he boosted through the air.

…And just as he propelled himself towards the back door, small porcelain hands found the handle to the front door, as Roll twisted the doorknob and gave herself access to enter.

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R__**

* * *

**_

* * *

-To be continued!

-Yah! The first chapter's done! Review and Alice shall renew! Imput shall be luved!

- LuV, Allygurl


	2. The red eyed boy meets the blue eyed gal

**R**a_D_i**E**r _R _

**B**y: _A_l**i**c_e_s**t**a_r_

_-(Megaman & all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

-And thankies for all the lovely reviews! 8D

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

Just as Roll entered the local convenience store, she was shocked to see such a flurry of chaos. The merchandise stands were overturned and destroyed, food was littered everywhere on the floor, and the people were screaming, scampering everywhere.

A couple of times she had been almost knocked over by the flood of terrified strangers. Frowning slightly, Roll inched her way through the opposing crowd. With all the people pouring past her, Roll felt as if she was trying walk against a strong jet of hose-water.

Finally she managed to crawl out of the tight bottleneck and instantly fell to the floor, gasping. Her synthetic lungs cherished the air as she drank it in greedily. With a great huff, she blew offending, yellow ribbons of hair out of her vision.

Roll slowly rose from her hands and knees to survey the damage around her. She carefully strolled through the deserted aisles, scanning for any signs of life. As the young girl began to reach one of the ends of an aisle, the flickering lights shorted, and fizzed out.

The store suddenly darkened significantly and Roll was forced to use her flashlight. The girl gazed at her right hand, giving it a mental command to transform. Her small hand was replaced by a bright, shinning light. Roll smiled softly, then continued her scouting. With each step she took, the more silent the place seemed to grow.

"…I can't seem to find anyone," Roll spoke to herself, "Well, better switch my vision sequence."

She closed her eyes and reopened them, now having her once sky-blue eyes the shade of fire. She entered a new aisle, scanning profusely, and almost immediately, she spotted one small figure among the rubble.

"Oh my goodness! Stay where you are! I'll be there in a sec!" Roll rushed over toward the hunks of rubble the small person was hidden within.

She effortlessly lifted the thick stacks of wood and boxes to find herself staring into the eyes of a brunet little boy. He gave little fuss as Roll picked him up and carried him out of the store. Just as Roll exited the store with her victim in her arms, a figure loomed behind her.

Taking slow, deliberate steps, he watched as she darted out of the store.

"…"

* * *

Huffing, Roll ran toward the police-controlled crowd. Already Police tape and barricades had been rigged for public safety. As the young flaxen-haired girl approached, she saw the blue-uniformed police officers turn to face her.

Beside them was a nervous looking woman who wore the same dark eyes as the boy in her arms. Just from scanning her, Roll already knew that they had a DNA match.

"Mikey!" The woman tore passed the police and took the young child in her arms. Roll smiled, and took a couple of steps back, relishing the lovely scene before her.

"Thank you so much little girl," the woman said, locking eyes with Roll, failing to notice her son's sudden disappearance, "I owe you so much. I must know the name of my son's rescuer."

Roll smiled, "I'm Roll…but I have a question…just what caused this--?"

The Light-bot paused, seeing the horrified gaze upon the woman's face. The crowd behind her as well shared the same terrified expression, "_My son_!"

Whipping arounf, Roll turned just in time to see an emerald bolt of light crash into a billboard above the small market's entrance. With little resistance, the sign was jarred from its original post and collapsed, heading for the unsuspecting boy beneath.

His mother left out another earth-shattering scream, "_No! Michael_!"

The crowd turned their heads from the horrific sight, as the boy's mother screamed shrilly. The police held her back with an iron grip as she struggled within their grasps.

Circling, dark smoke began clearing. As the scene became clear, the crowd fell completely silent, even the little boy's mother choked on her words. Before the crowd, the little boy sat unscathed.

Above him was a girl with her long, golden curls spilled upon her shoulders. However, what amazed the crowd was that the small girl was holding the billboard within the upturned palms of her small, pale hands.

The azure-eyed girl gazed up at the crowd, first nonchalantly, then when realization set in, fearfully. She was afraid that the people had figured out that she wasn't one of them.

"Mommie!" Little Michael ran over towards his mother who, although she held him tightly, never removed her eyes from Roll.

"…You're…" She began, "…a _hero_…"

Roll's apprehension instantly changed as a crowd of smiles and happy faces appeared before her. She received multiple handshakes, cheers and congratulations as she was swamped in the crowd of happy newcomers.

"So you're Roll Light, huh?"

"Megaman's sister?"

" And Protoman's sister?"

"You're really strong!"

"That was really heroic of you!"

"Can you beat up Megaman in a fight?"

"…Is Protoman single?"

Roll smiled, gazing at the faces in the crowd. The spotlight was on her! Everyone was smiling and thanking her for a deed she had done all by herself. The non-combat household robot had really just played the role of hero!

Roll's smile grew, '_So this is what being a hero feels like….It's wonderful…_'

"You're so cool, Roll!"

'_It's exhilarating…' _

"You're a hero!"

_'…It's the best feeling I've…ever had_!'

Just as Roll graced the photographers with another one of her dazzling smiles, a neon-green bolt of plasma crashed into one of the nearby buildings. Roll's admiring fans began fleeing as she looked toward an anomalous figure upon the rooftop of a nearby building. Roll's eyes widened slightly once she recognized the creature, "…Bass?"

* * *

"…He is _so_ late."

Miles away from the explosions was the city's international airport. On a daily basis hundreds of airplanes and visitors passed through the terminals. A young girl with wavy, neck-length honey-blonde hair sat outside of the airport terminal waiting despondently.

The last time she was in this current country, she had been a gleeful, small child. But as time had done its trick, she had blossomed into a strong, curvy young woman, with full, female attributes. The little rosebud had bloomed into a rose.

She watched apathetically as what seemed like hundreds of yellow, noisy little cabs zipped through the streets and towering buses came and went, picking up or dropping off different kinds of people.

The young girls' dark chocolate eyes narrowed as she grew more impatient by the second. She wore a snug, maroon fur coat that collected at her knees, dark leggings and furry black boots that matched the hat upon her head, "…He could have at _least _told me it wasn't winter here…."

Kalinka finally rose to her full height and began pacing back and forth angrily, "…He has screwed up _royally_, why when I see him, I'll--"

The Russian girl about-faced to find herself nearly charging straight into the red torso of the boy standing before her.

"…You'll what?" he asked softly.

"Blues?" Kalinka asked sweetly.

Blues nodded his head smiling. It seemed like a romantic scene was beginning to blossom; they stared at each other deeply until Kalinka raised her left fist and slammed it into his jaw with all the strength she could muster, " Ow! Wha--?"

"_That_," Kalinka hissed, "was for taking so long."

"What?" Blues exclaimed, "I can't even get a 'Hi Blues!' anymore? Remember, the way you used to do it when you were a big-eyed kid?"

Kalinka smirked, "I don't need to be formal with you, ya big lug! I'm only here to take my father's place at the science convention. Now then, carry my bags and don't drop a thing!"

Blues turned his back to her and sighed. Kalinka frowned, peering over Blues' broad shoulders, "What?"

"Is this how you treat me after all these years?" Blues whispered, sounding deeply hurt.

Kalinka's face softened, "Blues…It has--"

Blues spun to face her with a roguish smile, "_Psych! _Did your _really_ just fall for that, Kinky?"

The blonde's cheeks puffed, blushing slightly, "It's _Kalinka _you jerk! And I saw straight through that! Now are you gonna get my stuff or what?"

Blues smiled sincerely, "Of course, I'm always the perfect gentleman."

He picked up three of her four suitcases and began walking off. Kalinka frowned at the tall teenager who turned to face her, "…Yes?"

"You forgot this one!"

"…This, you're seeing right here is chivalry, not charity. You can get the last one yourself, can't 'cha?"

Kalinka picked up her last suitcase and ground her teeth, "…You know, my father _insisted_ that I stay with your family this weekend. You be sure to stay outta my way."

Blues smirked, but before he could respond to the brown-eyed girl before him, an image of Megaman appeared on the lenses of his shades. As always, when he wore the azure armor, his face was as cool as stone and his childish personality was altered into that of a crime-fighting hero, "_Blues? Are you there_?"

"Lookin' right at you kiddo," Blues replied, causing Kalinka to search for who he was responding to.

"_Blues, there's a situation at a local grocery store. Sources confirmed that it's Bass there_," Megaman's face changed significantly, "…_I just hope everyone's okay there…"_

"Just give me the coordinates, and I'll be there momentarily," Blues replied.

Megaman nodded, "_Okey-dokey, Blues. Here they are. I hope to see you in a sec_!"

The visual of the famous hero disappeared being replaced with a bright map. Blues had all he needed in order to track down that troublesome Wily-bot. Blues turned to face Kalinka who had her arms akimbo and was staring straight at him, "…Well?"

"We'll be going into battle, Kinky," Blues said, "Let's take lightspeed travel, shall we?"

Before Kalinka could reply to both the insulting nickname, and the question, Blues wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Kalinka gasped as she felt herself resting against Blues.

In a bar of deep red light, they were gone.

* * *

Roll took a backward step as she recognized the looming figure, who's name she was barely around to squeak, "…_Bass_?"

The dark façade that was washed upon his face blanked momentarily. He swore up and down that Megaman had been present; didn't he hear that crowd of idiots babbling his name? He even caught a glimpse of a receding figure in the cutesy pop-up book grocery store.

Although he wasn't able to get a clean view of the imposter, he detected three things in his book that led to Megaman: (1) The extra squeaky-almost girlie voice (2) The shrimpy stature (3) The crowd of admirers praising him.

Bass looked stunned momentarily before he said a name he didn't even know existed in his memory log, "…Roll?"

The Wily-bot saw the girl visibly jump, as he hopped off the roof and landed gracefully. His cat-like reflexes and liquid movements had awed her. Bass approached her more curious more than suspicious; his buster wasn't armed, but he was more than alert.

…If Bass was a stoplight, he'd be projecting yellow. Depending upon Roll's reaction, his mood would change accordingly. Roll gasped as she saw the monster slowly striding toward her. Although she did notice that his buster wasn't out in the open, he certainly didn't look too friendly.

Mentally Roll sighed, noticing that he _too_ had gotten upgrades. He towered over Protoman by a couple of inches, and probably had a few more pounds over the red soldier, seeing how Bass was more muscular. As he enclosed her postion, it was only then that Roll realized he seriously dwarfed her.

He had always been much taller than her or her brothers, but now he was huge! As if he could crush her single-handedly. Roll continued backing away from the advancing warrior until she found herself against a wall. Once he saw she stopped moving, Bass followed suit and halted as well.

Roll ignored his gaze momentarily and looked to his feet. Beside him was a cautious Treble, pacing slow circles around his master's legs. The violet wolf kept its eyes trained upon her, awaiting her move. Bass stared at her hard; now where had he seen her before?

Why did she look _so_ familiar? The blond creature huddled before him was vaguely familiar…and yet he knew her name!

…Was she a friend of Wily's?

No, the crazy old coot didn't have any friends.

…Was she a hot babe he had verbally harassed?

Bass gave her the once over then smirked; _eh_, she was so-so, not exactly his 'type': mind-numbingly smokin' hot. This frightened girl before him needed to be a little taller and older…and she needed bigger--

Then it suddenly came flooding back to the ebony warrior. Like a rushing, tidal wave of memory. She was that twit's sister; _Megaman's_ sister. She wasn't too bad looking, considering who's sister she was. Before he could think any longer about her, the girl before him stirred, "Bass! Leave me alone!"

The ebon warrior recoiled slightly, "What?"

An odd spark arose inside of the house robot; whatever it was, it made her feel stronger, braver. She clenched her fists and took a step toward him, "I said leave me alone! You're such a jerk, always bothering my brothers!"

Bass snidely put a hand on his hip as he smirked at her; he saw no potential harm, "Oh really? And just who asked for your opinion?"

Roll frowned and thought about all her admiring fans, the way they smiled at her…because she was a hero. It didn't matter that she was a robot; they had accepted her because of her heroic act.

The housemaid bit her lip as internal struggle raged within hr circuits. Should she try to fight him and protect all these civilians? She knew she was outmatched, but a real hero would fight, no matter how bad the odds were! So what would a hero do now?

Cobal eyes burned, heated with a new white-hot passion, "_I wish you'd just go away_!"

A rush of adrenaline filled Roll as she suddenly charged at the ebony robot. She threw a well-aimed punch at Bass, screaming furiously. Bass had been startled that Roll even had the fortitude to charge at him, but since she knew nothing about fighting…and it showed, Bass dodged the blow effortlessly.

Roll furiously continued throwing jab after jab, ignoring the fact that her hair fell loose from its ponytail and threatened to blind her vision. She had to fight for all thosed people who couldn't defend themselves, she had to protect humanity, she had to fight no matter what happened to her!

Each punch she sent his direction progressively got slower and more inaccurate; it didn't matter if she couldn't fight, she had to try! Real heroes never gave up! In the beginning Bass had been surprised that the cute, innocent housemaid had tried to attack him, but slowly he began to enjoy avoiding her blows.

And when her hair fell loose, their little fighting game even turned fun! Not to mention that every time she tried decking him with a right hook, her red and black dress pillowed around her like a parachute, revealing a lacy petticoat and her upper leg.

Bass smirked allowing the girl to deplete her energy with her wild swings. When Roll's punches were becoming painstakingly weak, Bass grabbed both of her wrists and put her against a nearby brick wall. He held her hands above her head as she struggled within his grasp.

Finally the girl stopped struggling and stared at him hard. Bass's roguish smile widened as she glared at him. He did a double-take, rethinking how he perceived her earlier…

The girl glared back at him with fierce electric cerulean blue eyes, which were slightly obscured by the loose bangs that swooped and fell into her eyes. The rest of her hair cascaded into golden circlets of ribbons below her shoulders. And he was also close enough to smell her sweet, flagrant strawberry shampoo.

He had been wrong, she was terribly gorgeous; and fiery too; that just added more to her charm. Bass roared with laughter, as he felt her struggle within his clutches, "Give up pipsqueak, you're far too outmatched."

Roll did the only thing in her power; she turned her face from him, only to have it snapped back toward the dark robot. Momentarily they glanced into each other's eyes; the brilliant, fiery crimson orbs locked with the liquid, icy blue.

The red-eyed robot suddenly snapped to attention when he heard the warnings yips Treble released. But all too late, before Bass could even turn around, a bright blue screaming arch of energy slammed into his torso, sending him crash-landing a couple of feet away.

Bass shook his head, clearing the swirling spots within in vision. Standing in front of him was Protoman with an outstretched Protobuster locked directly upon him, "_Keep_ your hands _off_ of my sister."

Roll blinked before she even noticed a tall figure beside her, it was her brother Protoman, in full silver and scarlet armor. Roll was vaguely aware that he had shoved his Protoshield into her arms.

The large shield practically covered her from the neck down; it was made to protect someone of Blues' hulking stature so she could barely see over the tops of the Protoshield. By shoving the shield into Roll'a hands, it seemed as if Protoman hoped to cover her up, protect her from Bass' eyes.

Megaman appeared beside Roll asking her all the vital questions, " Are you okay? How do you feel? Any juries? Did he touch you?"

As Megman interrogated his sister, Protoman made a careful beeline for Bass. Bass rose off of his back, grimacing lightly. He slowly cracked an eye open to see an approaching Protoman. And although he couldn't see his eyes, his demeanor just spoke that he was furious.

He watched Protoman advance upon him, with his scarf, which now nearly touched the ground, danced wildly in the wind. Bass also noticed his tightly clenched fists; oh yeah, if the ebony robot stayed any longer, Protoman would finish him for sure.

Bass grimaced slightly as he held his left shoulder, which Protoman pretty much disabled. With the new red gauntlets attached to his hands and ankles, like Megaman's, Protoman's power had a great upsurge.

The Wily-bot rose to his feet, keeping his eyes fastened upon the approaching warrior. He bared his teeth at the thought of retreating. Retreating is a form of loosing, a form of defeat, "Come on Treble, let's go boy…it's three on two…"

The purple wolf ran beside his Master, snarling at Protoman. In a flash of amber and violet light, they were both gone. Protoman stopped walking and stared into the direction they had just vanished from.

"You're sure you're okay?" Megaman asked Roll for the third consecutive time.

"Yes Rock, I'm fine," Roll replied.

"Well, we can always go get dad his tea at one of the teashops," Rock replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Rush appeared next to his master and Megaman ran a lazy hand upon the dog's back.

"I suppose," Roll said, "But we better get home soon, before dad gets worried."

Both Rock and Roll turned to face Blues. Th mysterious android approached them, now in a much lighter mood. His sister was safe, Bass was gone, so for the moment he could afford to be a bit amiable.

He turned his gaze upon Roll, were she was able to see her own reflection within his glasses, "You okay there, Rollie-pollie-ollie?"

Roll smiled, blowing bangs out of her eyes,"Yes Blues, I'm fine."

Rock smiled, "Say Roll, guess who's in town for three weeks!"

"Who?"

Protoman spoke into his helmet, tapping the speaker on the side, "Coast's clear. Come on out, Kinks."

"_What did you call me, you mysterious jerk!_?"

As Protoman massaged his temples, being bothered by the shrill pitch of Kalinka's voice, the Russian girl herself peeked out of an alley way and was greeted by a delighted Roll, "Kalinka!"

"Hey Egg-roll!" Kalinka smiled, hugging the small girl, " How have you been?"

"Good Kalinka," Roll smiled, "How have you been?"

"Not too bad, considering I've been stuck with jerko the entire day," she hiked thumb at Blues who sighed exasperatedly.

" Kalinka! Hey!" Rock piqued happily, then he paused slightly, looking thoughtful, "You've changed since the last time I saw you...but how?"

Kalinka turned to look at him, smiling, "Well, for one thing, I'm not a kid anymore. That's a pretty good start."

Cossack turned away from Rock, who still looked to be analyzing her further, and faced Roll, "So, it's somebody's birthday tomorrow, huh?"

Roll gasped, starting to become excited,"…Did you bring me a gift!? What is it!? What did you get me?"

Kalinka waved a friendly admonishing finger, "Nuh-uh, you'll hafta wait until tomorrow, Egg-roll!"

Rock turned from Kalinka to gaze at the crime scene, watching the swarms of police cover the city's streets. Rock blinked and turned his gaze skyward when he felt Blues' hand on his shoulders, "They have everything covered from here, let's go home."

"Okay," Rock agreed happily.

Both Rock and Blues called off their armor and their stood in their street clothes. The boys followed the two, shorter girls before them, enjoying the fading afternoon. Blues smirked contently, wallowing in the peaceful air of the day. He looked down at his brother beside him, who looked relatively unhappy, "…What's wrong?"

Rock looked up at Blues, "Haven't you noticed that Kalinka's changed?"

Blues looked away thoughtfully, then he smiled lightly, " Yeah…"

"Was she upgraded like us?"

Blues laughed, "Kind of…"

'_The un-artificial way..._' he thought to himself.

Rock whispered to Blues, failing to realize that he was within earshot of Kalinka, "But do you know what I think? I think the biggest change has to do with her chest…It just wasn't like that when she was little!"

Blues burst out laughing as Kalinka, who was red as a beet, smacked Rock on the back of the head, "…Forget about em'!"

"I think you're absolutely correct Rock!"

"_Blues_!"

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

To be continued!

-Yah! another chapter's done! Poor Kalinka XD! Review and Alice shall renew!

- LuV, Allygurl 8D


	3. Sparks of a hero

**R**a_D_iEr _R _

By: _A_lic_e_sta_r_

_-(__Megaman__ & all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

-_Heigh__- ho silver! It's time for the next chapter!_

_**

* * *

**_

_**R**_a_i_d_e_r_ R _

The doorbell chimed as it usually did upon the entrance of guests, "Dad, we're back!"

The aging doctor elevated his gaze from his paper. It was nearing noon and that usually meant that the diligent doctor would be in his lab testing his latest conjectures and theories.

However, since Doctor Light had been expecting the arrival of a dear guest, he had opted to lounging in his favorite sofa in his dinning room. He smiled at the appearance of his children entering with the swing of the furnished wooden door.

At the sight of the Lights' newest guest, the doctor rose and headed her direction, " Hello, Rock, Blues, Roll, and it is such a sight to see you Kalinka."

Kalinka smiled happily and wrapped her arms around the doctor to embrace him in a warm, comfortable hug, "It's nice to see you as well, Doctor!"

"Ooh, it's twelve o'clock!" Rock chirped happily, "And that means lunch time!"

Roll sighed, "Yes, that's correct Rock. Allright everybody! In the kitchen so I can take orders!"

The three lightbots, flanked by Kalinka, Doctor Light and Rush entered the kitchen, chattering merrily amongst each other. They took their seats as Roll began to prep the kitchen.

The Doctor settled into his seat carefully as he smiled at the deep golden-haired girl across the table, "My, haven't you changed into such a stunning young lady, your father must be bursting inside-out with pride."

Kalinka beamed like a Cheshire cat, "Well, thank you Doctor! At least _you_ know how to compliment a lady."

Blues stopped play-hitting Rock to gaze upward, "…I see no lady."

Rock giggled gleefully as Doctor Light sighed, " Blues…"

"You're right doc, my apologizes Kinks," Blues said smiling at a now suspicious Kalinka, "There _is_ a lady at this table…and _it's Rock_!"

Rock stopped his bubbly laughter abruptly as the others broke out into a riot of laughter, "_Hey_! That's not funny! He's making fun of me this time!"

"Okay," Roll stepped into the fray with a smile, "Before there's anymore mud-slinging, can I please take some orders?"

Kalinka waved her hand in the air happily, "Ooh! Ooh! I know what I want, how about Lo mein and steamed dumplings!"

Blues smiled, "Risotto with chicken."

"I'd favor Corn and Miso soup with Chamomile tea," Doctor Light smiled.

Rock pondered in thought, "…I'd like…a hamburger…a really big hamburger with French fries. Then on the side, mizo soup. And as another side I'd like spaghetti, and as a_nother _side…I want Kakitama-Jiru!"

After Rock's wealthy order of food everyone fell silent to gaze upon the boy who was exchanging their gazes, "…What?"

Blues smiled and turned to look at Roll, "…In other words, he'll have a little of what everyone's having."

Once again the family broke into hysterics as Rock playfully lunged at his laughing brother. Blues fell to the floor laughing as Rock sat on top of him, trying to make him cry out 'uncle.'

Their play soon turned into wrestling as Blues decided to play along. Soon, in a fit of giggles, Kalinka joined the two brothers in the all-out tickling fest.

She grinned evilly as she made Rock guffaw wildly like a hyena. And she even got out a few held-in snickers out of Blues, who fought his hardest to bite back his laughter.

But when Blues returned the fire, Kalinka shrieked happily, and kicked her legs wildly. Even the aging professor couldn't help but laugh at such a sight. Roll smiled and turned to face the oven and stove.

Smiling, she twirled a spatula skillfully in her hands and fired up the stove, "Okay then! Let's get the show on the road!"

Bass waited almost drowsily in the middle of another one of Wily's rants. He went to the old doctor to get his short-circuiting shoulder fixed, and here he was, buried in another one of Wily's long, monotonous rants.

Bass wasn't just bored. He was _stark_ bored. And the ebony robot knew that Wily saved his incoherent rants for the times when he fixed any of his malfunctioning parts.

...It was Wily's way of making sure that Bass heard exactly what he had to rant about.

Bass, known as Forte around Skull Fortress, finally decided to 'tune in' to Wily, as he thought he had caught his creator asking him a question, "…Huh?"

Wily's face appeared above his, reddening from anger, "Forte! You worthless scrap-bucket, _I said_ 'what in the hell did you do to your armor'? Looks like it's been cleared by a semi-truck. …And if it was, I hoped it hurt!"

Forte smirked as he closed his eyes; he wasn't really about to tell the old goat the truth, "…I was training…and it got ruined."

"How so?"

"I don't remember."

Wily glared at him suspiciously. Forte finally rose from the lab table to return the doctor's stare at eyelevel.

Wily narrowed his eyes; he obviously knew that Forte was lying, but he ignored him anyway; there was no potential harm in that lie, "Idiot. Fine then. You'll need to step out of your armor. And I don't want you to wear anything else! You might damage that as well!"

Forte shrugged then called off his armor, which dissolved off of him a violet flare of light and the black and gold armor reappeared before Wily.

The grumbling scientist set to work on the armor as Forte stood in nothing more than a pair of boxers. Although the tactic was meant to embarrass the tall android, however Forte stood nonchalantly in the cool lab, looking no less sculpted, or confident than Adonis himself.

Forte decided to kill time by glancing around at the flashing screens and humming machinery. He continued to glance around the lab tepidly until his vermilion eyes caught sight of something that perked his interest.

The dark-haired android made his way over to another operating table, similar to the one he had just been lying upon. There, lying on the shiny metallic table were stacks of boxes filled with different, intricate pieces.

Beside a few of the boxes was a thick book. Forte leafed through the book long enough to know that it was one of Wily's schematics for a robot.

Forte frowned; was this book for him? Because _whoever_ it was for, it was far more detailed than any of the other schematics he had seen for Wily's robots.

…Even his own.

"Forte!"

Forte instantly dropped the book and spun to face the doctor, feeling caught red-handed, "What?"

Wily glared at his lazily, appearing not to have noticed any of his robot's snooping, "…If I'm going to be fixing your rag-tag armor…then fetch me my music CD…the one _with_ the disco on it."

Forte nodded and headed on his way out. After he retrieved the disco CD, he made a mental note to kill himself before track three started to play.

The afternoon was warm and blustery as the wind rippled through the grass. Rock stood a couple of yards away from his brother as he watched Blues catch his throw effortlessly.

"Nice catch Blues!"

"Well, nice throw Rock."

A voice appeared over the intercom, "_Well there you go, we finally saw how the simulator looked like on the 'Sunny-summer afternoon' setting_."

A deeper feminine voice spoke, _"…It's kinda pointless if you ask me…"_

Blues laughed, "Yeah, seriously."

Rock shrugged " I dunno, it kinda makes me want Lemonade."

Watching Rock and Blues from a different room where Roll, Doctor Light and Kalinka. Roll turned to her father and smiled, "So, what do you think of the simulator? It's running nicely, isn't it?"

Light turned to Roll and smiled, "The training simulator is working successfully. The test-run has been going exceedingly well and I believe that this will be a great invention for bettering both Rock's and Blues's skills."

"Yeah," Kalinka replied, nodding her head, "Look at all these different settings! Just how many different places can we put these guys?"

"…It's practically endless," Light began, "Observe. See how we placed Rock and Blues in the meadow?"

"Yeah?" Roll edged.

Doctor Light began pressing different buttons and turning different knobs on the giant device. Roll and Kalinka huddled closer to the scientist as they watched eagerly.

"Set the weather condition…the location…the time…and here we are," Doctor Light said as he programmed a new location.

Suddenly the warm, summery background behind Blues and Rock disappeared as they were appeared in what seemed to be the middle of a blizzard in Antarctica.

Both Kalinka and Roll exploded with laughter as they watched Rock and Blues shiver frantically, although Blues tried to hide it. Rock yelped at the sudden climate change, " _Holy cow it's c-c-c-cold!"_

_"Do you mind, doc?"_

"Sorry, just trying to prove a point."

Soon, both of the boys were covered in heavy, winter-ready jackets, snowboots and mitts. Kalinka's eyes glittered, "_You can dress them!_?"

Doctor Light nodded, "Of course."

Doctor Light tapped in another set of coordinates and the scenery changed to that of a beach. Instantly, the Doctor morphed their apparel to that of swimwear.

Kalinka wolf-whistled, "Nice."

Doctor Light smiled, "Thank you."

The Russian girl looked at the doctor and pointed to the screen that displayed Blues and Rock, "…I was talking about Blues."

Roll laughed as the Doctor blinked, seemingly misunderstand what Kalinka had just said. She grinned devilishly, "So…we finally see what you're hidin', eh hotstuff?"

"_Heh, I knew you couldn't resist my charm_."

"Okay! My turn!" Roll cried out eagerly.

She dabbled on the buttons and both Rock and Blues appeared in the rain dressed as each other. The two brothers exchanged glances as they studied each other.

"_Look at me! I'm mysterious and cool_!" Rock exclaimed, punching a fist in the air. The he didn't that wasn't 'cool' enough and he decided to cross his arms snidely.

_"…I have absolutely no comment to that_," Blues replied, "…_But seriously…this looks terrible on me_."

"_Hey! For your information my armor is VERY stylish you dirty sack of--"_

"I meant it looks _terrible on me, not you Rock_."

"_Oh, then that's okay then_!"

Roll smiled and Kalinka looked enchanted; her coffee-hued eyes sparkled with electricity, "Now let _me_ try!"

"…_I don't feel comfortable letting Kinky have that kind of power_…Knowing that she has the power to dress or undress me might make her go crazy and take things to an inappropriate level."

Kalinka glared as Rock and Roll burst out laughing, "You better shut up Blues, before I _really _make something bad happen to you!"

Doctor Light spoke next, turning to look into his latest creation,_" All right, fun time is over, the simulation room is to be used for training. It's ready whenever you are."_

Blues turned to look at his silver and crimson clad brother, "You ready, Rock?"

Rock nodded his head and slipped the dark visor over his eyes, "I'm ready!"

Instantly they were morphed into their normal battle attire, and a background that made the two warriors feel as if they were floating within cyberspace.

"Cool!" Rock enjoyed his voice's new echo that came with the new environment.

Rock turned his gaze to his brother who stood a couple of meters away from him. Blues stared at him levelly with his scarf trailing him in an invisible wind.

Rock noticed that although his brother's stance didn't seem offensive, Blues had his Protoshield drawn.

"Ready?" Blues asked with the slightest trace of a challenging smirk upon his face.

"Yeah!" Rock smiled.

With the blare of sky-blue boosters, Protoman streaked through cyberspace heading straight for his brother.

Megaman's smile slowly faded as he opened his eyes to gaze upon the advancing form of his enemy. Once the azure hero's sights fell dead upon Protoman, his gaze transformed into blue ice.

"Well," Doctor Light began, " It looks like they'll be at this for awhile. Will you both be leaving, Roll, Kalinka?"

Roll turned to look at her father, " You don't mind if I watch them for awhile, do you dad?"

The doctor shook his head, "Of course not Roll."

This gave the doctor an idea, "Kalinka, may I speak to you for a minute?"

"Umm, of course."

Kalinka followed the doctor out of the room and watched as he gently closed the door, " Kalinka, your knowledge of robotics is extensive. And…I've been wondering if you'd be willing to help me with a project that I've been meaning to start…"

It was way beyond the first winks of nightfall when Roll decided to retire for the evening. Even after Rock and Blues had finished their training seminar in the simulator room, Roll had carefully waited until her brothers had left before she replayed their fighting footage.

The entire time she had watched their combat, she had felt like she was at a sporting event, cheering and hollering like a fanatic.

Then slowly, she felt herself beginning to wish that she was in their place, shooting and dodging screaming, hot plasma.

At first she suppressed the idea, but the more and more she thought about it, the more she grew and longed to fight, just like her brothers.

Then, she found herself studying the tape, oddly enough to learn and watch just _how_ Blues and Rock moved.

After being cooped in the dark room for hours, Roll checked her clock to find that it was nearing ten p.m.

She trudged into her room, which the simulator was conveniently nearby, and changed into her favorite nightgown.

Roll sat at her vanity brushing her long locks that rested far beyond her shoulders. Once pleased with her toil, she stopped to gaze at her reflection. A girl with blue eyes and yellow hair returned her stare.

'_A little girl with blue eyes and yellow hair_,' Roll thought sadly, '_And a helpless one too_.'

She sighed and rested her head within one of her palms, as her mind swirled with thoughts and images.

There, in her minds' eye she saw little Michael, the boy she rescued, and the grateful faces of the adoring crowd.

Then she saw her brothers sparring in the simulator. Their combat looking as flawless and as graceful as any ballet.

Then the last face she saw startled her and even caused her to gasp; it was the face of Bass covered with a cruel, dangerous smile upon his handsome face.

Roll's thoughts dried up; did she just think Bass, the same Bass who fought and tortured people as handsome?

Roll rubbed her temples as her face seared with a flagrant, pink blush, "That's it! I need sleep!"

She quickly hopped in her bed and allowed her systems to cool and retire into sleep mode. Immediately, the girl became numb to the outside world.

Just as Roll's system went offline, the door to her room creaked open as two figures loomed near the door, "…Is she sleep?"

_R_a_i_d_e_r_ R_

To be continued!

-Yah! another chapter's done! Review and Alice shall renew!

-If you could control the simulator, what would Blues and Rock wear?

-Allygurl 8D


	4. Happy Birthday!

**R**a_D_i**E**r _R _

**B**y: _A_l**i**c_e_s**t**a_r_

_-(Megaman & all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

-_Time for the latest installment of Raider R! Thanx for the lovely reviews! _

_

* * *

_

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

The clock struck six-thirty as blue eyes slowly opened; as the maid around the Light residence, Roll scheduled herself to rise a few hours earlier than her brothers and father.

She thought it'd be pleasant for them to wake up to a nice, warm, awaiting breakfast. Oddly enough, instead of feeling completely refreshed as she normally did, Roll felt groggily…and peculiarly sore. She released a moan as she slowly sat up from her bed.

Roll blinked, '_Bed? This isn't a bed…I'm on a table! Wait a minute; I'm not in my room_!'

Although Roll's vision was a bit muddled from sleep, she was still able to tell that she was certainly _not_ within the quarters of her own room. In fact, if she didn't know any better Roll believed herself to be in her father's lab.

Just as Roll was becoming absorbed within her thoughts, a light snore brought her back to the real world. Beside Roll, lying with half of her face on the table was Kalinka.

Vaguely, Roll wondered if that pose was comfortable. Then the young girl caught a glimpse of her slumbering father. He was reclined in his favorite lab chair sleeping quietly.

Roll almost burst out laughing when she realized that her father still had his pipe in his mouth.

'_They look so worn out_,' Roll thought with a smile, '_I wonder what they were doing? Oh well, someone's gotta start bre_—'

Roll halted mid-thought, and in the middle of her stretch as she stared at her bare arm. Earlier, she had been wearing her long-sleeved nightgown.

But that wasn't the weirdest thing about her discovery. Roll stared wide-eyed at her arm, compared to before it was…slender.

And the fingers attached to her small palms, they weren't pudgy as they were before. Her fingers were long and trim, giving her hands a regal, graceful appearance.

"Wha--?" Roll almost choked on air as she heard her voice; though slightly lower, it was still light. It sounded slightly aged.

"My voice? What happened to my voice?" Roll practically screamed.

But, what really did the poor girl in was when she turned…and saw her reflection. No longer could Roll contain herself as she released a shriek that echoed throughout the house.

In a matter of milliseconds, Dr. Light and Kalinka were jarred from their sleep. They both turned their gaze upon an overly delighted Roll.

She sat on the edge of the desk staring at her reflection in a mixture of awe and joy, "Is that _me_?"

Kalinka, currently a bed-head, smiled wearily at the happy robot, "Happy birthday, Egg-roll…"

Roll made a mad dash toward the mirror, but face-planted ungracefully upon the floor, "Oof!"

Quickly, Kalinka and the doctor helped Roll to her feet, "You okay there Roll?"

Not noticing the painful red mark upon her face, Roll nodded her head eagerly, "Yeah I'm fine! Just help me over to the mirror!"

Both Kalinka and Doctor Light helped the girl to the long mirror. Doctor Light smiled as he watched his daughter happily take in her new look, "The reason you have absolutely no balance is because you're not used to your new legs. And--"

"I know!" Roll cried out happily, "Look how skinny they are!"

Indeed, Roll's cute, chubby stumps had been replaced with long, slender legs. Although she wobbled her way to the mirror, she was beaming the entire way.

Doctor Light laughed, "Don't worry about the stability in your walking…that'll change within the next couple of minutes or so."

Finally Roll stood face-to-face with her reflection, and she couldn't have been more pleased.

Just as Roll was getting acquainted with herself, the lab door barged open. Both Rock and Blues appeared, still dressed in their baggy bedtime apparel, "…Is everything okay here? We heard a shriek."

Rush squeezed himself past his two owners as he wagged his tail. Rock gazed past his brother's shoulder and glanced at everyone occupant of the room.

His stern gaze broke as it fell upon a pretty, smiling girl. Although he had never seen her before, she looked extremely familiar, "_Roll!_?"

"That's me," she replied with a heavy grin.

Rock dashed over to his sister as he looked her over happily, "Cool! You look older! And pretty too!"

Rush walked over to Roll and sniffed the stranger. At first, he appeared confused, but then barked a greeting at his master.

Roll blushed slightly as she turned to her mirror image, "Thanks Rock!"

Before, Roll had the appearance of a cute, charming little girl, but now, she was indeed quite lovely.

The girl staring directly back at Roll was beaming brightly, taking in her new stellar appearance.

Her hair, having once been a shade or two lighter than Kalinka's deep gold, was now updated to a white gold; a color reminiscent of champagne.

Her eyes, which were now laced with thick, deep hazel lashes, were still the same sky-blue. As she noted earlier, her arms and legs were transformed into slender appendages.

Roll also noticed that her waist was significantly smaller, and gave her hips and her overall figure a nice, slightly curvy flare.

And her chest was decent, it wasn't quite as impressive as the girl beside her, but it was still pleasant to the eyes.

Roll was dubitably pleased with her thin, yet nicely accented frame. And the loose tank-top and short-shorts she wore guaranteed that her frame was as nice as she believed it to be.

"Your arms and legs look like ours now," Rock said, happily pointing out any differences he could find, "Your face is slightly different…"

Rock began poking, and probing Roll. It seemed as if he wanted to explore every inch of her. Roll didn't seem to mind as much as her older brother.

Blues finally stepped in as Rock held one of Roll's arms in a silly pose, "Rock, stop that. She's still your sister."

"I know, but she's so new!" Rock exclaimed.

"I didn't poke _you_ when Doc made you," Blues retorted.

"Oh!" Rock said smiling at a new discovery, "And look at your chest, it's like Kalinka's!"

"…Well Mastermind, they are both girls," Blues replied.

"Can I touch them?" Rock asked excitedly.

Roll's face exploded with color as Kalinka burst out into laughter and Blues coughed, "_No_!"

Kalinka wagged a finger, "Sorry Rock, that's one place ya can't go!"

"That's right Rock, you need to respect her," Blues nodded his head, "….In either case, try Kinky here."

"_Blues_!" Now it was Kalinka's turn to redden like a cherry, but Blues laughed.

"I'm just kidding Kinky," Blues said with a smile, "Rock, or anyone for that matter should treat you with the utmost respect."

Kalinka's fiery glare disappeared; after being in such a rush this morning, it appeared that Blues had failed to adorn himself with his usual helmet and impenetrable visor.

Actually, it was a sight by itself to see the conservative Blues dressed in anything beside his street clothes and armor. But here he stood in pajamas…and helmet-less! She was able to see his features clearly!

Rock's hair was ebony, Roll's was faint blond, and his was a deep chestnut. And similarly with their eyes, despite the blue undertone, Rock's eyes held specks of brown, Roll's specks of green, and Blues had gray.

Kalinka found herself dissolving within his soft, blue-gray gaze; she had not idea why he wore his visor all day and hid his face.

If his features were repulsive, she'd understand completely, but his face was anything but…

"Kinks? Am I loosing you?"

Kalinka blinked, she saved herself from a daydream and realized that she had been staring at the mysterious android for awhile now.

Kalinka's face flared up brightly with color as she thought of a way to rationalize her odd actions, "Uh…Next time…_DON'T BE SUCH A JERK_!"

She turned her back to a now confused Blues, "…Well, that couldn't have been any weirder…"

Blues finally removed his gaze from the blushing human when he felt a soft hand upon his shoulders. He gazed over his back and saw Roll looking at him, "What is it Rollie-Pollie-Ollie?"

"I know it's too late now," Roll said bashfully, "But…you're okay with…"

"What? My lil' sis's upgrades," Blues smiled, "Well, who do you think okayed the plans and helped in the supervision of the entire thing?"

Roll's mouth dropped to the floor, "_You_ helped recreate me?"

"That's correct," Doctor Light smiled, "He was watching us, and even helped design your appearance."

Kalinka crossed her arms, "Yeah, M.J.actually did supervise the whole thing. The entire time he was in our ears feeding us with ideas and suggestions for you."

Blues looked at Kalinka, " 'M.J.'?"

Without hesitation, "Mysterious jerk."

"Ah…"

Doctor Light laughed, "We allowed Blues to choose your blueprint. No pun intended, (Blues smirked) but he made us scrap your blueprints at least twenty times until he finally said, 'This might do'."

Kalinka snorted and looked away, "Yeah, your brother, aka slave driver, is a power hungry egomaniac."

Blues placed a hand upon his heart and acted hurt, "That hurt, Kinks."

Roll suddenly crushed her brother in a hug, " Thanks Blues! This is the best gift ever!"

Blues smiled, "You're welcome sis….just don't talk to _any_ boys….Well, beside Rock and myself."

"Say Roll," Doctor Light asked.

"Yes dad?"

"I know it's your birthday, but do you mind running an errand for me and picking up some milk?"

"Sure dad," Roll exclaimed happily.

Roll waved to them all, then disappeared upstairs. Before the other three could have a conversation, a smiling Roll appeared before them, " Um, Kalinka? Can I borrow some of your clothes? I don't think mine will fit anymore."

Kalinka followed Roll upstairs after poking Blues in the chest. The mysterious android leaned against a door post as he watched his little sister travel up the stairs.

He smiled; she was so happy and sunny, it seemed like his approved gift had made her day. She was happy and radiant…and charming…

Then Blues' smile disappeared.

…And she was drop-dead gorgeous.

'Aw crap. I might as well start polishing the good ol' buster, especially with all the new attention Rollie's gonna get!'

A tall boy clad in a long black shirt, loose, baggy jeans and matching black sneaks traveled down a street apathetically.

He had decided to take one of the more so unknown routes to avoid a crowd. He snarled at the thought of being caught in a crowd. Oh how he hated crowds! And with a passion!

Even now, with the few people around him, he dodged them as though he thought them contaminated with leprosy. While ambling, he had caught sight of an interesting store that housed sporting goods.

He entered the store and gazed around nonchalantly, having zero plans on buying any of the merchandize in the store.

As habit, he scanned his surroundings, making sure to locate the exit, and he scanned both the customers and the employees.

There were only two employees there, and that meant easy-peasy pickings. The first was an old man (_old people should retire so I don't have to see their crumbling, dusty faces_.) who looked to be in his sixties and the last employee was a brunette girl within her late teens. (_Eh, too skinny_.)

The teenage boy watched until both of them were helping another client before he made his move. With a quick motion of his hands, he swiped an expensive pair of silver-hued glasses.

Just as he was about to exit the store with his new good in his pocket a voice stopped him, "Did you find everything you needed, sir?"

The teenager turned to gaze at the owner of the voice. Well what do you know? It was Miss so-so!

Although he was sure she was an adolescent, her thin frame and round eyes belied her true age.

"Yeah, I found everything," he replied in his deep voice.

Then she smiled warmly, "Well then, have a nice day sir. I'm Italy, by the way."

"Jett," the youth replied dispassionately "Gotta go."

He nodded to her one last time and left whistling, thinking nothing of the girl who stared after him deeply.

Once out of eye-shot, he placed the shades upon the top of his head and continued his trek through town. Just as he darted to avoid another oncoming person, his sights fell upon an average height girl.

She was walking straight at him with a brown grocery bag. Her champagne-hued hair was put up into a high pony-tail, but it was long enough where strands of her hair hung on her mid-back, and her heavily-lashed blue eyes glinted green in the sunlight.

Although she didn't noticed him; she seemed to be off in deep thought, she strolled right passed him without a second thought.

The girl caused Jett to turn do a one-eighty, and turn around completely. While speaking aloud to himself, he smirked, watching her retreating figure, " Hello."

Roll strolled through the streets with a huge smile upon her face; it was her 'birthday' and she had finally gotten the gift of her dreams. Roll took a deep breath of air and exhaled; today was a perfect day.

'_Just as birthdays should be_,' Roll smiled at the thought.

She had just picked up her father's milk and was en route to her home. Roll blinked; maybe, after they celebrated her birthday, she could try out the simulator herself.

…When the others weren't around of course. And maybe she could replay Rock and Blues' footage so she could try out some of their…

"!"

She suddenly turned her heel the wrong direction and went spilling to the floor. Just as it seemed that Roll would face-plant a second time in one day, a pair of strong arms caught her around the waist.

"Whoa, easy there tiger."

Roll opened her eyes to be staring into the deep crimson pools of a smiling boy. Roll stared at him stupidly as she found herself wordless.

The girl blinked, she found herself dripped backwards within the grasp of the handsome stranger. An outsider would have interpreted the scene as the two doing the tango.

Roll stared at the hovering face above herself. Although she had just met him…she felt as if she had known him. He did look familiar…

"You better watch where you step, or it could be…" he smiled, glints of vice appearing in his smile, "dangerous."

Roll's eyes dilated as she felt her face splurge with blush, "I-I gotta go."

"Oh?"

He traced his fingers upon her back as he stared at her deeply. If Roll's face was pink before, it was a searing, smoldering crimson now, "I-I-I…"

He smirked, "I hope to see you around--"

He blinked; what was her name? The teenage boy blinked again, he felt as if he just had déjà vu…Because she looked really familiar.

"I'm Jett, what's your name?" he asked.

Jett, or whoever he was, certainly had no respect for personal bufferzones, as he was now inches away from her face. Roll frowned slightly as she unhinged herself from his grip.

Roll remembered exactly what her brother Blues had said about boys. Keeping her distance…no matter how handsome he was, keeping distance should still be a number one priority.

She dusted herself off, picked up her grocery bag and looked up at him. By now he seemed to have a surprised façade. "I'm Roll. It was nice meeting you Jett, but I'm afraid I have other things to do. Who knows, maybe I'll see you around someday--"

Roll blinked as she looked into her brown grocery bag, "_Oh no_!"

The white-blond pulled out half of a smashed glass pitcher. The milk that had once been inside was spilt in a white puddle at her feet, "Dad's milk! And, I don't have anymore money to buy another bottle!"

Jett frowned slightly as it appeared that the girl was about to put on a display of waterworks. Just as Roll threw her head back to release a barrage of tears, a new, shiny glass pitcher of milk appeared before her face, "Here, take it. Just can the waterworks."

Roll blinked up at the face of the stranger as she took the cool pitcher from him, "Thanks …"

"Yeah, whatever," He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned to leave, "I'll let you give me the cold shoulder no--"

Roll stopped Jett in place with a firm hand upon the shoulders. He turned to gaze into Roll's cerulean eyes, "No really, thank you Jett."

He looked at her speechless. Then Roll beamed at him, "…If you're interested, would you like a cup of milk?"

Half a mile from the Light residence, laughter filled the air. Oddly enough, for the entire duration of the journey home, Jett had Roll laughing like a hyena.

At first, their traveling together was awkward because of the dull silence. But when Jett made a single sarcastic comment about the cheap grocery products, the blond was in stitches.

And naturally, when Jett saw this, he kept cracking comment after comment. He not only enjoyed making her laugh, but he had also decided that he enjoyed the sound of her laughter.

Eventually they had both opened up to each other and by the end of the homebound journey, Roll felt as if she had known the stranger her entire life. She enjoyed the company of this human.

Just as Jett had launched himself into another hilarious story, Roll suddenly stopped walking. Jett was so enthralled in his own story that it took twenty paces for the boy to realize that his audience had halted.

He turned to look back at Roll, whose gaze was fixed on a sight before her, "Roll?"

Roll jumped and ran until she stood beside Jett who looked at her skeptically, "If I'm boring you, tell me."

Roll blushed, "Uh, no you're not, I just caught sight of my house."

Jett shielded his eyes as he gazed off into the horizon, "From way out here? In the middle of nowhere? You must have eagle eyes."

Roll gasped; she had to make a reasonable excuse. There was no way she was going to let him in about her superior robotic vision, "Well…I just recognize my surroundings."

Although Jett lowered his eyelids slyly, he smirked at her, "Hmph. Is that so? Fine then, lead us, O leader-girl."

"Well," Roll fidgeted with her fingers, "Maybe...this is the closest we should go. My father would get the wrong idea if he saw us walking home together."

Although Roll _really_ had an image of a furious Blues in mind; Blues had a blaster, he knew how to use it, and he wasn't afraid to use it.

...Oh yeah, she could see the look on his face; his facade grim with his mouth set in a firm, unbinding line and his visor glinting ominously, as if it had become apart of him.

Although his expression on the outside would appear cool, and impartial, it would belie his true inner emotions.

…Mentally, Roll nominated her brother as the scariest thing alive when infuriated. Jett shrugged, as if indifferent with her decision, "Well whatever, you gotta do, what you gotta do."

"It was nice meeting you Jett," Roll replied shyly, " I'm sorry I thought you were a jerk."

"Jerk?" Jett laughed humorously; Roll smiled, although it was her first time hearing his laugh, she liked how his laugh sounded, "That's one of the _best_ things I've been called."

"Well either way, I'm sorry," Roll replied, "You're actually sweet."

"Well, you're not too bad either Roll," he replied with itty-bitty traces of a smile appearing on his face.

"Hope to speak to you in the future," Roll smiled.

Jett seemed to be deep in thought, "…Yeah."

Then he suddenly looked nervous, "Uh…maybe, I dunno…maybe…maybe we can met at the same place, same time?"

"Okay!"

"Tomorrow?" he said with a little bit more confidence.

"Sure," Roll smiled lovely.

"…But next time, time let's not cry over spilt milk," with that, he turned and after a laughing Roll.

"Oh! What a terrible pun!" Roll laughed, "Bye! See you tomorrow Jett!"

While keeping a perfect stride, Jett turned to look at her and gave her a lazy salute. Roll smiled.

She turned the opposite direction and headed home with the brown grocery bag in hand. Whistling, Roll entered her house to find a dressed Blues, Rock, and a well-groomed Kalinka talking in the confines of their living room.

Kalinka stopped glaring at Blues and smiled at Roll, "Hey, there's the birthday girl!"

Rock smiled, " Finally! We can eat that cake I've been wanting!"

"That's right!" Blues patted Rock's shoulder, "You can eat like the ravenous pig you are!"

"Hey! Well…you're a mysterious jerk!"

Kalinka laughed, "That's right Rock!"

Then the Russian girl turned to look at Roll archly, "So, talk to any boys?"

Roll laughed as she hurriedly left the room, " No comment Kalinka!"

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

-Leave a Review and Alice Shall renew!

-And yes, Rock needs to learn how to keep his hands to himself !XD

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	5. The Awakening

**R**a_D_i**E**r _R _

**B**y: _A_l**i**c_e_s**t**a_r_

_-(Megaman & all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

- _Hey readers!_ _Thanx for supporting Raider R and Reviewers….Love ya! For I am lovin' all the reviews! _

_-This I'll be a kind of long chapter 'cause it's the birth of Radier R!_

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

It had been a week since Roll's birthday, and day in and day out she continued performing her routine chores such as shopping, sweeping, and mopping; anything that fell within the category of cleaning. During the week since Roll's birthday, while she managed to go shopping, she rendezvoused with her now close friend, Jett.

At first she met him every Tuesday, then it transformed into seeing him three times a week, and now, everyday she had to see him. And everyday she would return late in the afternoons, usually with an excuse.

Also, a new habit that the blonde robot had begun to develop was to watch Rock and Blues' sparring sessions. In the beginning both were iffy about allowing their endearing sister observe their battles, but Roll quickly changed their minds when she began servicing them with nice, cool drinks.

And as of late, Roll even began to question some of their techniques and some of their fighting methods. Rock always happily explained everything to his sister, and even performed demonstrations for her, meanwhile Blues, who was hesitant, usually questioned his sister's motives. And if her rationale seemed acceptable, he would explain himself, too.

Now, after another training session between the two brothers, Roll had volunteered to fix any tears and damage their armor had sustained in their battling. Rock and Blues handed Roll their armor as they were currently adorned in their usual street clothes, "Hey Roll, we're gonna hit the showers! …Did I say that right, Blues?"

"Yes Rock, but we're not going to hit the showers, literally."

"Oh, I know that! Trust me, it hurts!"

"…Shut up, Rock," Blues placed his smaller brother into a headlock as they disappeared into a new room.

Roll gazed at the armor and sighed; it looked like it was going to be another long night, "Boy, they really did a number on these things!"

The android girl descended down the stairs and entered her father's laboratory. She smiled at the aging scientist and found a spare table to begin 'surgery'. With a loud clank she dropped both of the armors, and began repairs when she found a spare toolbox.

While Roll patched up the armors of her brothers, she heard the soft murmurs of dialogue between her father and Kalinka. She gazed at them momentarily to see both of the humans gazing at what appeared to be blueprints.

With a careless shrug, Roll returned to her work and started tinkering on the tattered armor. Just as her thoughts seemed to be wondering elsewhere from her work, a new idea appeared.

'_Armor_?'

Roll gazed upon the deep cerulean armor that the hero Megaman wore. Then she gazed at the silver and crimson armor the legendary Protoman wore, '_What if…_'

She bit her lip and tapped her fingers against the tabletop anxiously, '_What if I were to…_'Roll shook her head furiously as she picked up the monkey wrench and fastened bolts energetically.

This time she heard a different voice in her head, it was her old voice, the one that belonged to the pre-upgraded Roll, '_Stop that. I have to fix their armor so they can fight_._ There is plenty of danger out there, and the world needs Megaman and Blues._'

Then she paused again and stared into the smooth, shiny surface of Megaman's armor.

In the reflection, she was able to see herself, and she heard a second voice in her thoughts, this time it sounded like her current voice,_'…But what if I was able to make a new armor….for me…Then I could fight too.' _

The old voice seemed to speak again, _'There is plenty of work to do around the house. Father's getting old and he needs me to take care of him.' _

The new voice, Roll's current voice seemed to laugh, _'There will always be plenty of work to do around this place…and besides, building an extra armor for myself won't hurt anyone_.'

The little, old voice spoke with a frayed, worried quality, '_Building this new armor is a mistake! I was meant to be a housemaid robot_! _And fighting is terrible_!'

The new voice sounded confident, as if it was smiling, '_Oh, and wasn't Rock a house robot in the beginning? But look at him now. He's the world renowned Megaman. The legendary blue bomber. We were built from the same parts, and we have the same attributes. It's in me to do it, too. Just imagine, being a hero. It's in me! And I must fight to protect people, remember how good it felt to save that kid at the grocery store? With my own armor, I can always feel like that! Just imagine!' _

Beaming, Roll slowly placed the wrench upon the table; she took a couple of steps back to gaze at her finished work, "All done, I've finally finished…And I've made up my mind…"

* * *

Frowning slightly, Kalinka gazed at the checker board before her. She sat at the dining room's furnished oak table as she mulled over potential moves. Finally, the girl with the chestnut-colored eyes moved her cherry checker piece to capture an ebony piece, "There."

Sitting across from the honey-haired girl was Blues. He nodded his head as he watched her move. And just as Kalinka had gone into deep thought, Blues rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he pondered his next move.

After what was five minutes, Kalinka emitted an angry sigh and Blues glanced up at her, "What?"

"Unlike you, I _DO_ get old, hurry up and make your move!" Kalinka bellowed.

Blues smiled, "Fine, your funeral."

After flipping a black chip in his hand, Blues hopped over the board several times before he finished. Kalinka's mouth dropped when she only saw that she only had three remaining checkers. Blues leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms with a smug smile, "Your move, Kinky."

"..How?--" Kalinka squeaked.

"You're actually a really good checkers player," Blues smiled, "But, when going up against a mastermind like me….well…I can make even the best look amateur."

Kalinka curled her fists as she broiled, "But I _had_ you!"

"Ah," Blues shook a scolding finger at Kalinka, "Who had whom, Kinks?"

"Ooh!" Kalinka growled, "I'll still win yet! And you'll have to do all my chores for a week!"

"Hmm," Blues purred in his deep voice, allowing himself to rest his face in his hand, "Are you really that determined to beat me so we don't go out on a date?"

Kalinka's face rouged, "Hmph, let's just play the game, Blue-boy."

Blues smiled, "As you wish."

Just as Kalinka picked up a red checker, a blaring siren went off. And out of shock, Kalinka toppled backwards in her seat, as Blues rose gracefully from his. Rock peeked his head within the doorframe to gaze at his brother, "Trouble! The RobotMasters are attacking!"

"On it," Blues replied as Kalinka rose to her feet.

As he strolled past Kalinka, he turned to look at her on his way out, "Perhaps we can continue this game later."

"Perhaps," Kalinka said, now leaning against the doorframe, and crossing her arms, "But as of right now…you go get 'em tiger."

Blues flashed a rare smile as he called on his armor and followed Rock and Rush out the door. Kalinka smiled as she turned her gaze back to the checker board on the oak table, "…Hmm…"

* * *

Reading on the porch at the sound of the siren, Roll had watched her brothers dash past her and teleport into action. At first she wistfully watched them, like a child watching an ice cream truck drive by, but then wistfulness transformed into excitement when she realized that her brothers were gone, '_I can work on my armor now! But I have to work fast.' _

Just as Roll opened the front door, her father stood in front of her, with a briefcase in hand. Beside him was Kalinka, blinking at the nearly eye-level champagne-blonde robot.

"…Father, Kalinka?" Roll began.

"Forgive me dear, I forgot to mention that Ms. Kossack and I will be attending one of many science conventions today," Doctor Light looked down at Kalinka who smiled back at him, "…I didn't expect your brothers to run off so quickly, but…"

"I know, they have to fight crime," Roll acknowledged.

"Yes," Doctor Light nodded his head, "We shall probably return late. And I don't know when your brothers will be back…"

"Don't worry dad," Roll beamed, "I'll be fine alone. You and Kalinka must get going or you'll both be late!"

"Yeah, she's right Doctor Light," Kalinka nodded her head, "Take care Egg-roll!"

After exchanging hugs and waves, Doctor Light and Kalinka took the hovercar and disappeared from sight. Roll watched them until she made sure that they weren't returning for any reason. And once she was sure, she entered the house and locked the door before her.

"…Okay…it's time to begin…"

Roll appeared in her father's laboratory in a new change of clothes; she had dropped her black and red dress for a pair of Rock's most dingy, darkest clothes. Although the black shirt was loose and met her mid-thigh and the shorts ended almost calf length, these garments would have to do.

For a final adjustment, she roped her high-ponytail into a bun; now she was good to go. Roll searched and dug through her Father's cabinets until she found a sketch pad, a protractor, a rule, and a pencil with a good eraser. She quickly sat down at her father's desk and began to play with ideas for the armor.

Wad, after wad, after wad, of crumbled paper was thrown into the overflowing tin trash can. It had been what felt like hours and none of the armors she drew were good enough!

The pale blond frowned and tapped the eraser-end of the pencil against the desk in thought; just what in the world should her armor look like? She blinked; just what types of armor had she seen?

Roll closed her eyes and envisioned Megaman's armor. He wore matching blue boots, shorts, gauntlets, gloves, sky blue subarmor, and a helmet. Then she pictured Protoman's armor; the crimson visor helmet, the matching red gauntlets, boots, the gray armor suit and shield.

Then she saw Bass's armor; the black chest armor with the matching black shorts, the gray subarmor, black boots, and the notorious snake-fin helmet. Roll nodded her head and scribbled a rough stick figure then added a block around its chest, "Yep, definitely need chest armor!"

Roll laughed to herself and continued drawing. Then, just as she had seen armor for the other robots, a new vision appeared. In her mind's eye, she was able to see a new armor. Continuing to draw, it seemed as if her fingers were moving unconsciously, as if they knew what armor to design.

Pleased with the sketch, the platinum-haired girl picked up markers and began to color, using the mental image she had seen as reference. After she finished coloring, she picked up the paper and smiled, admiring her work, "…Cool!"

* * *

"Ha!" Roll dropped the last block of titanium upon the lab table, "This should be enough to make the complete armor pieces: helmet, chest, boots, and gauntlets. I can sow the subarmor myself."

With that, Roll set a visor over her eyes, picked up a torch and began to weld the armor. She ignored the sweat that dripped from her face as she concentrated upon shaping the red-hot armor.

It was a good thing that Doctor Light had Roll learn how to create different armors for Rock and Blues, because now, she was a pro! And whipping up new armor could be done in a couple of hours. Yep, she was a certified pro.

…Well, not certified…

But in any case, Roll would be able to have the armor done before both of her brothers and the Doctor and Kalinka would be home. Within four hours, she had finished the helmet, the gauntlets, and boots. Now she was working on the chest armor which would cover her clavicle and finish above the abdomen.

And throughout the entire process, being robotic certainly had its advantages, for example, Roll didn't need breaks. And she certainly didn't need food or water, it was another source of energy like going into sleep mode, but still, she took snack breaks every now and then.

It was fairly dark by the time Roll had finished shaping and chiseling the armor to her liking, and she began painting the armor by dusk. Just as she had seen in her vision, she had painted the helmet a rich, deep scarlet, matching the leg and arm gauntlets and the boots. The chest armor was painted a slightly darker cherry red, and it was assented with black markings.

Roll smiled at her newly painted armor; it was perfect! And it looked just as good as Megaman's or Protoman's armor. And that meant it was time to start on the subarmor.

Using a sturdy, spandex-like material, which was much stronger than it appeared, Roll began to cut and shape the material into the form of a body. Once she created sleeves and openings for the arms, legs, and neck, she sowed her creation together, and yet again Roll was pleased with the outcome.

"This looks professional!" Roll cried happily.

She returned to her drying armor pieces, which were underneath a super-hot light in the lab. She had seen her father use the hot-light to quick-dry many things. He had warned her about it many times, telling her that it got as hot as four hundred degrees!

She watched happily as she took in the sight of her work. She smiled to herself happily, feeling a light, almost giddy sensation welling inside of her, '_I'm_ _actually doing it! I'm gonna be a hero Just like Rock and Bl--_'

Roll blinked; what would her brothers think of this? There was no way Rock or Blues, or her father for that matter, would allow her to fight! …Especially Blues! He would scoff at such a ridiculous idea and then smash it with an iron fist.

'_I can't back out of this now_,' Roll thought with a slight frown, '_I've made the armor…and everything's perfect…All my dreams are almost tangible_…'

Sadly, Roll allowed her gaze to slip from the baking armor onto the helmet, '_Blues would have a cow if--_'

She halted her thought as she stared at the helmet, '_Blues! That's it! I could create a visor, just like Blues! And my identity would be safe! There would be no way they'd know it was me…_'

Roll put a hand to her throat, '_They'd recognize my voice for sure…but I can fix that…I can alter my voice with one of father's creation_…_And my hair…_'

She ran an unconscious hand through her pale gold locks, '_Hmm…I'll have to think about that one longer…_'

The timer went off as the heating light suddenly turned off. Roll put on thick leather gloves and approached the brand new armor. With careful, but quavering hands, Roll slowly picked up the crimson helmet and stared at her reflection. Roll smiled at her mirror image happily; it finally seemed as if her dream of becoming a hero would soon be!

"I've done it," Roll whispered to the shinning, red helmet, "I've finally created my armor. This is the first step to becoming a hero! But now, like every good super hero, their identity must be concealed!"

While carrying the helmet under the nook of her arm, she headed to one of the many shelves in the lab and retrieved a spare visor. And as many fights as Blues had been in, his visor got cracked countless times, so Doctor Light always had thousands of spares.

The visor Roll had picked up wasn't black as Blues'was, it had an impenetrable silver sheen. Roll smiled and connected the visor to the helmet, "Perfect!"

Smiling, Roll gazed at the now, silver-visor helmet. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the chest armor, "Hmm…"

* * *

The door to the simulator was opened as a crimson and ebony clad robot stepped in. Roll was decked from head-to-toe in her new, sparkling armor. She barely recognized herself!

And the last additions to her armor furthered herself from her 'alter persona' as Roll. She had installed the voice chip within the helmet, which changed her feminine voice to a deep, smooth tenor.

The first moments Roll had tested her voice, she had laughed, thinking how 'hot' her new voice sounded. And strapped across her torso, was what appeared to be a silver belt that held a hilt upon her back.

Within the confines of the silver hilt was a silver staff; a silver painted metal mop, which she had removed the sponge. She thought the addition was handy, if not cool.

The second addition was the silver cape. Although her father had labeled it a cape, in Roll's opinion it appeared to be a long, tattered silver scarf. But why could she complain? It was both fire and plasma proof. And of course, Roll had equipped one of her red gloves with a buster that shot silver-hued plasma.

Roll pulled at the collar of her black subarmor as she programmed the simulator, '_Geez! How can Rock and Blues stand wearing this? But I guess it's for protection…_'

With the last taps on the keyboard, Roll turned and entered the simulator for her first time. She breathed a couple of deep breaths to calm herself as the background changed.

Roll opened her eyes to find that the scenery had shifted to a downtown city. The cybernetic Pedestrians passed by, looking at her curiously as she stood in the middle of the road. Just as she side-stepped to allow a mother and daughter to pass, an explosion flared and sent the people into pandemonium.

Roll instantly jumped to attention as a Sniper Joe appeared. With quick reflexes, Roll plucked the Sniper Joe off with a searing ball of silver plasma. Her visor blipped signaling a rear enemy and Roll turned and shot the second Sniper Joe.

More Sniper Joes appeared as Roll continued to pick them off with impressive reflexes. As soon as Roll believed herself to be getting used to using her buster, she commanded, "Level up!"

In response to the command, the Sniper Joes began to fire at the black and red clad robot. With a gasp, Roll began to evade their shots. Several times Roll had to boost to avoid being struck.

Then, just as she was beginning to feel overwhelmed, she remembered Rock and Blues' hit-and-run technique. And as soon as a Sniper Joe shot another ball of plasma at her, she ducked, then shot him with a glinting, silver orb.

The Sniper Joe exploded and dissolved. Roll, while running, started firing her buster, at her foes. Within a couple of rounds, the Sniper Joes were being handled expertly.

"Level up!"

The Sniper Joes dissolved completely as Roll stood in complete silence. Just as she was about to retry the command, she felt the ground beginning to vibrate, "…What in the world?"

She turned to her left to see an approaching Yellow Devil. Just before Roll could scream, the yellow fiend sent a massive, yellow fist into her stomach. The red and black robot flew through the air to land into a cyber building wall. Roll moaned as she held her head; as of right now, she was seeing stars.

She shook her head as she looked up at the Yellow Devil. The golden blob ripped out a tree from its roots and hurled the plant toward the fallen robot. Roll yelped and boosted out of the way before the tree flew into the wall.

Backing away, Roll watched as the Yellow Devil continued to hurl object after object at her. If she continued to stay on the defensive the entire time, she knew that eventually it would hit her!

After dodging a thrown car, Roll charged her buster and released a completely charged silver arch of energy at the Yellow Devil. She fell to the floor, not used to releasing such a powerful shot, "Whoa!"

The silvery energy merely bounced off of the Yellow Devil's gooey body; Roll frowned at the sight, '_Okay, I'm all out of ideas, how do I beat this thing_?'

Just as the Yellow Devil lifted another car above its head, Roll pulled the silver staff from its hilt, "_Oh, I forgot about this_!'

Roll sighed, "Here goes nothing…"

She boosted toward the Yellow Devil who threw that car at her, Roll side-stepped, gliding like an ice-skater, and used the silver staff to pole-vault behind the Yellow Devil. With a war cry, she speared the silver pole into the Yellow Devil's foot.

The golden glob roared angrily as it bent over to throw a jab at crimson and ebony-clad robot. Roll dodged the blow as the Yellow Devil's fist broke through the concrete. Roll couldn't help but smile when she noticed that the Yellow Devil was stuck, trying to remove its hand from the ground.

Gripping the pole tightly, and summoning courage, Roll ran up the Yellow Devil's arm until she was eye-level with the beast. With a roar, she jabbed the silver staff into the center of the eye and jumped off the shrieking leviathan.

After distancing herself from the Yellow Devil, Roll turned to see the yellow monstrosity collapse and dissolve, just as the defeated Joes did. Roll ran over and picked up her staff, "…I did it! …I did it!"

"_Level up_?" the simulator asked.

Smiling, Roll nodded her head, gazing at the silvery staff, "Yeah, level up!"

As soon as Roll spoke those words, a bright, indigo ball of plasma flew right passed her.

Roll yelped and jumped back from surprise. She turned to look the direction the screaming purple plasma had flown from. Taking a defensive posture, she brandished the silver staff menacingly, "Ha!"

Approaching was a hostile figure with a grim face and a dangerous smile. His eyes were two glowing infernos.

Roll's mouth dropped to the floor, "…_Bass?_"

* * *

"So did you enjoy the meeting, Kalinka?" Doctor Light asked.

It was twelve in the morning, and finally, Doctor Light and Kalinka were returning to the Light residence. Doctor Light opened the door, allowing Kalinka to enter first, "It was…interesting to say the least. I enjoyed speaking with some of the other professors. But did you speak with Doctor Smegan? Oh my _goodness _that man can talk!"

Doctor Light laughed, "Yes, he does like to explain his theories, doesn't he?"

Kalinka rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately…"

"Just getting home?"

Doctor Light and Kalinka turned around to see Rock and Blues festooned in their armor. Although they both were smiling, both of the boys looked exhausted, dirty, and bruised.

"And I see you two just finished as well?" Doctor Light asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Rock's smile piqued, "The Robot Masters launched attacks all over the world. I took continents: Africa through Asia and Blues took the rest."

Blues nodded his head, "Yeah, I think we got them pretty good…They won't be around for awhile."

"Good," Kalinka nodded her head, "Let's just go inside and get some sleep. Talking to old guys after while gets boring…"

Doctor Light opened the door as they all filed in. The chattering between them stopped as they saw a dead-tired, and bruised Roll laying splayed face-down on the couch, in the living room,"…Ouch…"

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

_-Leave a Review and Alice Shall renew! _

_-Aww, poor, Roll! _

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	6. Raider R

**R**a_D_i**E**r _R _

**B**y: _A_l**i**c_e_s**t**a_r_

_-(Megaman_ _& all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

- _Hello Readers & Reviewers! Thanx for the support, keep the super-duper reviews rollin' 8D_

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r** _R _

* * *

Unfortunately, the night both of the Light brothers and Doctor Light and Kalinka returned, they saw the evidence of Roll's training session. She wore multiple cuts, bruises and gashes from her encounter with the simulator. Simulator-Bass had given her a simulator-butt kickin'.

And of course, the Light family and Kalinka were all to some extent shocked when they witnessed her in such a state, but they all had their different reactions; Rock immediately jetted to Roll as fast as he could and placed her in a rather painful bear hug. The moment Blues had seen her battle scars, he was boiling under the collar, ready to nuke half of the world and begin world war three.

Doctor Light had begun questioning his daughter, and sent Rush to nose around the house, searching for any evidence of a Robot Master attack. Meanwhile Kalinka, who had seemed to only stare at the platinum-haired robot in the beginning, retrieved a first-aid kit and went to work.

So what was Roll's alibi? 'Cause she knew that if she didn't find a half-decent rationalization that explained her bruises, she could kiss her new hero hobby good bye.

After finally getting everyone silenced, Roll twiddled her thumbs as she decided to explain her situation to her family, " I…uh…I was carrying parcels…Very heavy parcels down stairs. Tall, very heavy parcels. They were almost stacked as high as the ceiling. And when I was going downstairs, I tripped. Painfully so."

The blond android took a shallow breath and gulped, watching her family members' faces, looking for telltale signs that they bought her story. Rock nodded his head understandingly; apparently he had bought the fib, and Doctor Light and Kalinka stared at her blankly. Nothing on their faces gave away that they didn't believe her.

But Blues was another story altogether. He waited quietly in the room, arms crossed and propped against a wall. He waited until everyone had left the room before he approached his sister, "…Carrying parcels down the stairs, huh?"

Roll nodded her head dumbly, not saying a word. Blues surveyed the scene as he looked to his left, then to his right. Then he returned his gaze to his sister, "…And yet, I see no strewn boxes…Or maybe after you fell, you still had enough fortitude to return the boxes to their rightful destination…But how can that be, seeing that you can barely hold up your head?"

The pale blond stared at her brother silently, and wordlessly. Blues smiled at her, "…Sis, you can fool Rock, Kinks, and maybe even the Doc, but you can't fool me. Whatever you were doing is your business…as long as whatever you did was…legal."

Roll laughed as Blues placed a hand on her head and messed up her hair, "But seriously, you're okay?"

The champagne-haired robot smiled, "I'm fine Blues, if it was something serious. I'd tell you."

"Good." Blues was just starting to make his way upstairs when he stopped abruptly and turned to look at her, "And remember…"

Roll sighed, "I know, I know, 'boys are bad and they can make you sad.'"

"There ya go," Blues smiled and continued on his way upstairs.

Roll sighed as she slowly allowed herself to be absorbed into the fabric of the couch, "…That was pretty close, I'll have to start covering my trends more closely!"

* * *

The days and weeks seemed to fly by as the young girl continued her training daily. Each day she found time to squeeze into the simulator and hone her newly formed skills.

In the beginning, she started with Metools and Sniper Joes, but then she advanced to the Yellow Devils and when she was beginning to take down Yellow Devils masterfully, she advanced to a few Robot Masters.

Although making up excuses for her new bruises weren't as easy as she thought, it was still worth the struggle; training against the Robot Masters increased her skills both efficiently and quickly.

Roll found herself mastering the use of her buster, and her handy-dandy staff very well; when the situation called for it, the blonde android was able to switch weapons on the dime and still not miss a beat. And although the use of the silver plasma-toting buster was easier, Roll believed herself to be more skilled with the silver mop-turned-staff.

And today, like every other day, the simulator was running its course smoothly; enemies appeared out of thin air as the black and red armored robot blasted each appearing foe into oblivion. The armor-clad Roll was in the streets of an unknown city, due to the fact that she had set the simulator on random, battling in a melee of enemies.

Apparently, the simulator was feeling creative today, as it had thrown every kind of foe into the fray. However, Roll handled each foe without a second thought. She blasted and pulverized the Sniper Joes as she speared any of the flying mechanisms.

The Yellow Devils fell quickly when Roll brandished the staff; with a couple of painful blows to the shins, the Yellow Devils collapsed and were met with death as a silver rod was interjected in their eyes.

Roll was finishing the last of the Sniper Joes when her silver visor beeped. Roll spun, using her dash-thrusters to glide through the turn. A Sniper Joe appeared before her and fired off a rapid session of plasma. Roll glided into a side-step and fired a charged plasma orb. The Sniper Joe instantly dissolved upon contact.

"Simulator, what's the enemy count?" Roll commanded.

"_Enemy count concluded, one foe remains_."

Before Roll could wonder where the last enemy was, a sticky, yellow substance materialized around her feet. Roll struggled helplessly as a yellow monstrosity slowly coagulated before her eyes.

As soon as Roll got a grip on her trusty staff, the Yellow Devil punched her out of the sticky, yellow gunk into a side of a dumpster. Roll opened sapphire blue eyes to see that her vision was clouded by strands of blond hair, "Ah! I can't see--!"

Even though Roll couldn't see the Yellow Devil, she more than heard its loud, approaching footsteps. Flustered, Roll ripped the helmet from her head and rose to her feet, with the helmet tucked under her arm, she threw the staff like a javelin, and speared the Yellow Devil right in the eye.

With its momentum, it fell over and collapsed on its face. The second it hit the floor, it dissolved. Roll stood panting, watching the silver staff drop to the floor with a clatter.

"_Training mode A, complete_," the simulator returned the city street into the normal dark backdrop of the simulator room.

Roll picked up the staff in her hand and left the training room. She mentally called off her armor with a mental command and stood in her normal black, white, and red dress. Roll strolled through her hallway until she ended up in her room. The blond went to her vanity mirror and stared at her reflection, somewhat unhappily.

"How can I be an effective warrior, if I can't even see!" Roll exclaimed, "I've tried everything; I've pinned my hair up, put it in a bun…Everything…"

Numbly, Roll played with a few strands of pale, sand-hued hair. Her thoughts were slowly starting to become opaque, as her mind began to slip into a daydream. Then, a new idea hit her, and she knew just how to solve her little dilemma.

* * *

"…How _long _is she going to take?"

Currently, Jett was leaning against a building near the intersection of Cherry Street and Fuchsia Avenue. He was in a ritzy little part of town where he assumed the wealthy and privilege lived.

…In other words, it was a place where a guy like him didn't belong. But he'd like to see the day when one of these stuck-up old goats told him that! The only reason he was here in the first place was because of…

"Jett! I'm _so_ sorry I'm late!"

Jett opened his eyes and turned to the sound of the voice. He spotted a red-dress clad teenage girl dashing towards him. She stopped before him with a smile, "Forgive me! I had some things to take care of."

Jett smiled at her, "No problem Roll…" he paused, "You cut your hair…?"

"Oh," Roll stroked her hair; before, it had cascaded down her shoulders in cream-colored ribbons, but now her hair, although layered choppily, barely touched the nape of her neck, "…It looks weird, huh?"

Jett's grin became toothy, his eyes strolled her up and down; seeming to take in the complete picture of her. Roll felt her face go warm under her friend's gaze, "…Actually, I kinda like it better that way."

Roll gazed into Jett's red eyes, "…Really?"

"Yeah, but when you're cute, no matter what you do to yourself, you're still cute," he replied with a shrug.

Roll's cheeks grew red, "W-what?"

Jett's smirk didn't help with Roll's embarrassment either, "Come on, we're off to the Azure Lake, right?"

"Umm, yeah," Roll nodded her head.

Jett took Roll's hand with a smug smirk; the expression on Roll's face made his grin spread like wildfire. Well, this was the first time he had held her hand after all. With a gentle tug, he began to lead her to the lake, smiling the entire way.

* * *

"Hey! How are those apples coming along?"

Jett was gazing up at the sky from his back. He was reclined perfectly, facing the sky with his hands tucked behind his head. With one leg crossed over the other, he waited for Roll's reply.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"Not nearly fast enough, Roll," Jet smiled, "My stomach's growling, and food's not in front of me."

Above him, an attractive girl's face appeared before him with a slight scowl, "Well then, why don't _you_ get up here and help?"

Jett flashed a white-grin back at her, " 'Cause I'd put you to shame…and I know you're sensitive."

Roll slowly raised an eyebrow, "…Oh really?"

"Yeah, you're fingers are too _weak _to pick apples," smirking, Jett opened one eye to gaze at Roll.

"Is that so? Well then, your frame's so big and heavy that you'd probably crack this tree in half from climbing it!" Roll laughed.

Roll threw her head back in the midst of her laughter to accentuate the effect. In a matter of seconds, Jett was off of his back and scaling the tree like a madman. Roll instantly ceased her laughing as she watched him climb the tree like a panther. Then, with lighting fast movements that Roll barely caught, he plucked apples.

Within a matter of seconds, Jett held a handful of ripe, delicious red apples in his palms. This was going to be the umpteenth time that Roll saw his smug smile, "Checkmate."

Roll frowned, "Well mister macho, I think you should hold this tree with both of your hands before you fall!"

"Give me a break Roll," He laughed, "Do you want to be wrong twice today?"

Just as he pushed himself up on a branch beside Roll, his footing slipped a little and he released a yell and a couple of colorful swear words; he began to plummet. With impressive reflexes, Roll grabbed deftly his wrist, and held him.

"Whoa!"

Now, the girl with the champagne-colored hair hung from a tree branch with one hand gripped on Jett's wrist, and the other wrapped on the tree. Roll smiled at Jett who blinked up at her with shock, "…Checkmate."

As soon as Roll tried her luck at giving Jett a cocky smirk of her own, the tree decided to thrown in a 'checkmate' of its own when the very branch that Roll held onto began to snap.

Roll gasped as Jett grimaced, "…Geez, let's just give up the whole checkmate thing!"

The branch snapped and gravity followed through by sending both Roll and Jett to the meadow-floor in a heap.

"Oow…" Roll rubbed her head as she popped an eye open.

She surveyed the damage of their fall. But then she blinked when she felt something shift under her weight. Jett released a slight groan as he sat up, only to be face-to-face with a blue-eyed girl.

...Well, not exactly face to face, because she was lying on top of him. Roll stared back at the boy underneath her. Roll's face turned carnation as she quickly made her way off of him, "Oh! I'm s-soory Jett."

A firm, but gentle grip on her wrist stopped her movement. Jett met Roll's gaze with a warm, true smile. In response to the genuine smile, Roll's face rouged. Gently, Jett guided his fingers under Roll's neck and tilted her chin towards him.

Roll learned the meaning of this gesture when she saw the dark-haired boy close his eyes and slowly approach. Roll closed her eyes and followed suit, gradually inching towards Jett.

Her thoughts ran rampant as her mind processed the idea of receiving her very first, true kiss. Would it really be as wonderful as all those television shows made it out to be? Roll opened her eyes barely, gazing upon the smooth, intent face of Jett. Soon, she was going to find out if Hollywood was correct. She drew her hands up to cup Jett's face, and as soon as she closed her eyes…

"Help! We're being attacked!"

Both Roll and Jett instantly broke out of their trance; Jett propped himself up with his elbows and Roll looked up. Although the couple was rather isolated from the public, they were able to see the streaming hordes of people fleeing the city.

In the situation, both Roll and Jett had very different emotions; Roll seemed to watch the scene with a grim, determined face as Jett seemed shocked. Unconsciously, Roll clenched a fist and narrowed her eyes; it seemed that the new, heroic flare was sparked within her.

She suddenly turned to Jett, missing the odd, dark expression on his face, "…Jett, I gotta go, my father will want me home now."

Although Jett's face lightened remarkably, it was still obvious that he was still upset over something, "…Yeah, go ahead."

Roll gave him a hug, then scampered off out of sight. Jett watched her run until she disappeared from sight. Once she was gone, the dark-haired boy grimaced, " Aww, dammit! There went my chance!"

* * *

The nice, upperclass neighborhood was being doused in flames. Inferno began to fan nimbly and ate all that in covered. Today, Heatman decided that it was his turn to create havoc for the stuck-up little richies.

"Everything shall burn! Burn!" he cried happily.

The wilybot cheered as a searing billboard fell from a five-star restaurant, "And good riddance! That's what ya get for not allowing me in your restaurant!"

Heatman threw himself into a fit of happy, bordering insane laughter as he pointed gleefully at the burning structure. And just as his laughter seemed to be reaching its pinnacle, he heard a slight noise. Quickly, Heatman turned, "…Eh?"

Behind him, a human woman with coffee-colored hair was numbly wandering the streets. At first she didn't see the robotmaster, as her back was to him, but then, as if sensing his gaze, she turned to look at him. The human woman fell over from shock and gasped, "Oh my goodness! It's--"

Heatman smiled expectantly, "Yes?"

"I-It's…" she stuttered.

"Yes?" Heatman's insane grin grew.

"It's Fireman!" she screamed.

Heatman's face dropped visibly, "_Fuh-Fireman_? Fireman?"

Heatman went into hysterics that threw the woman for a loop; the robot master was obviously throwing a tantrum; jumping up and down and flailing his fists like any toddler, "I'm not 'Fireman'! Those are the guys that put out fires! And I _start _em'! I'm Heatman! _Heatman_, you stupid meat sack!"

The brunette woman was speechless, "...Oh…"

Heatman appeared before the woman with arms akimbo, "Well, what's your name so I can butcher it?"

Luckily for Heatman, the woman was wearing the green and white uniform that her company had given her, and as required, she wore a laminated nametag near her clavicle. Heatman squinted and read the nametag, "Rita? Ha! Just what kind of name is that?"

Heatman seemed to ignore the fact that Rita was sweating profusely; he was Heatman after all, and being anywhere within two feet of him was like sitting near an erupted volcano, "Well then Rita, I'll call you Raisin! Yeah, Raisin! Haha, how do you like that?"

Rita blinked blankly; was this guy half as stupid as he showed himself to be? Well, either way, if she wanted to survive, she'd have to play along with the idiot, "…Um, right, yeah, I don't like that very much at all."

Heatman laughed, then stared at her slyly, "Ha! Serves you right human. However, since I'm in such a good mood, I'll let you live, as long as you scream wildly when you haul outta here."

"Rested assured, I got that covered, "Rita nodded her head.

"Oh by the way," Heatman injected, "What kinda uniform is that? It seems familiar…"

"I…worked…or used to work at that one restaurant down there, with the flaming billboard on top of it, Emerl's."

"Emerl's?" Heatman's face blanked, then he suddenly became angry, "Well…I was going to let you go…but…"

Rita's eyes widened as she scrambled away from him. Heatman held his arm out and his buster appeared, "…But now, I've changed my mind."

The wilybot smiled darkly, "Well, there's only one thing left to say, order up!"

With that quip, Heatman sprayed Rita with a gorge of flames. She was frozen in silent horror as she watched the flames beryl towards her. Heatman grinned evilly, "Nice, and now…I shall hear your screams of unbearable pain!"

…But there were no screams of terror or pain, even Heatman was able to figure out that something was wrong. He paused his onslaught of magma momentarily to gaze at where Rita had been, "…Where is my barbecued human! I didn't even get to hear her screams of horror! Aww, did I fry her that quickly?"

"…I wouldn't be too sure of that…"

"…Eh?"

Heatman looked up to see a faint form standing on a building. Returning his gaze was a crimson and black clad robot with a trailing, tattered silver cape. The human woman, Rita, was clinging to his side, looking down at Heatman fearfully.

"Hey! That's my human!" Heatman threw a small tantrum.

The red and black robot smiled, and actually laughed, his voice came out in deep, smooth decibels, "Oh really? Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put a stop to this…"

"Come down here and say that to my face, you no-name jerk!" Heatman hissed.

The red and black clad robot turned to Rita, who stared up at him with bright eyes, "…Um…stay here, please."

Rita watched as the mysterious hero disappeared in a beam of crimson light. Heatman glared none too nicely at the new threat before him, "How dare you interrupt me! You Protoman-knock off! I'll show you what happens when you meddle in others' internal affairs."

Heatman unleashed a wave of fire at the awaiting red and black hero. Rita cried out sadly, as she witnessed the unknown champion being engulfed in flames, the sight looked pretty bleak for the rescuer. Rita threw her hand out, "Oh no!"

"Ha!" Heatman smiled triumphantly, stopping the onslaught of flames, "Barbecued lose—_huh_?"

The black and red hero had avoided the flames by shielding _him_self with his tattered, silver cloak. Both Heatman and Rita gasped, expecting the newcomer to have been singed into nothing more than ashes. Heatman frowned and aimed for the new hero once more.

The mysterious robot pulled a silver staff from his back and hit Heatman's arm. The robotmaster stopped his attack as he howled in anguish. While the robotmaster jumped around in pain, the newcomer took a knee and blasted Heatman with a silver flare of energy.

Heatman plummeted to the floor in a heap, unconscious the first moment he hit the asphalt. A pair of red boots appeared beside the fallen Wilybot's head as the new hero took in the sight of the victory.

The threat was defeated and peace would be restored to the city; the day was saved by a housemaid-turned hero. Quickly, like a rushing tidal wave, happiness flooded Roll. Soon, the a contagious smile spread on her face.

"…I did…I really did it! This is my first real victory!"

Sirens wailed in the distance as fire trucks, and police cars began to appear in the distance. Underneath the visor, and the imposing red and black armor, Roll smiled happily, "Well, I better get back home! Someone has to start the pot roast!"

Roll disappeared in a flash of orange light, leaving the police to finish the work she started. The human woman blinked stupidly, then began to wave her hands furiously as the police and fire engines approached, "_Hey_! What about me? Don't leave me here!"

* * *

The warm morning had grown into a hot, humid afternoon. It was barely an hour past noon, and already the day was unbearable; the sun's great eye scorched all that it touched, wafts of steam rose from the ground, and even the shade that trees provided was uncomfortably warm. In the Light residence, every window and door was cracked as the air condition system was serviced to its maximum output.

The Light Family themselves were relaxing in the well-air conditioned living room; it was the only room that was tolerable in, and had a rather nice breeze circulating. Rock reclined lazily on sofa in a loose blue tank-top. He watched the television with half-lidded eyes as the girl beside him, Kalinka, slept deeply.

Even the head of the household, Doctor Light, had given up on any type of research for the day. The aging doctor had claimed that the heat had been fooling with his concentration, so now he buried himself in another thick small-print novel.

Blues had been out for a couple of hours; on duty because of a robotmaster invasion. But Blues didn't leave the house before having one of his usual infamous battles with Kalinka. And it ended the same way it usually did; with Blues laughing his head off, and Kalinka beet-red in the face, ready to go into a fit of violence.

Rock flipped through channels hazy-eyed as he watched numerous commercials disappear before his eyes. He finally stopped his channel-surfing when he heard his father speak, "Rock, turn to the channel five news."

Rock turned to look at Doctor Light, "…Why? The news is boring and catered to old people."

Doctor Light looked up punctually, "Well, then, I guess the news is perfect for me. Now change it."

Rock sighed as he did as he was told. He felt sleep began to flood his consciousness as he stared at the monotone news reporter. Words began to slur into nothingness as Rock felt himself slowly beginning to dose. It was only when he caught a glimpse of a new headline that he suddenly became interested in the boring, soggy news.

"_Breaking News: A mysterious new robotic hero saves a local city from a crazed robot master. The nameless hero has been given the alias of 'Raider R' with the only identifying feature being a silver 'R' on the chest of the hero."_

* * *

_R_**a_i_d_e_r** _R _

* * *

_-Leave a Review and Alice Shall renew!_

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	7. Downtime and Romance?

**R**a_D_i**E**r _R _

**B**y: _A_l**i**c_e_s**t**a_r_

_-(Megaman_ _& all the other characters belong to Capcom!)_

- _Hey there Readers & Reviewers! Guess what? We have some art done by the awesome _Kyuubi no Tai . _Maybe there will be more as the story progresses, wouldn't that be delightful? At any point, check it out and enjoy the next installment of Raider R!_

_-_w . deviantart . com / deviation / 37293615 /

_R_**a_i_d_e_r** _R _

* * *

"Argh!" 

Cutman fell to the ground unconscious with a heavy thump. Raider R slowly lowered his buster and smiled as cheers filled the air. The unknown hero was standing before a crowd of twenty children, all screaming and applauding his heroism. For some unidentified reason, Cutman had decided to hold a bus load of children hostage. At once, Raider R came to the scene and beat the robotmaster with little sweat.

A small boy wearing a red baseball cap stepped forward, "You're so cool Raider R!"

A girl with curly hair smiled, "Ooh, you're so brave!"

"You're awesome R!"

"He's so strong!"

"So fast!"

"He totally womped scissors-head!"

Laughter rose from the pile of children. Raider R turned to face them with the wind catching his silver, tattered cape. Although the robot smiled, he waved his finger at them in an admonishing manner, "Kids, it not nice to tease."

The children all looked to the floor ashamed. A smile grew of the red hero's face, "…And it's _tomato_-head."

The students burst out into an even louder laughter, guffawing hysterically. Raider R smiled and waved, vanishing in an ark of orange light, "Later! Stay in school!"

"Bye Raider R!"

"He's totally strong, just like Megaman!"

"I wanna fight like Raider R!"

"Hey R! My mommie and sister want to marry you!"

Raider R…

The alias was given to the unknown hero and it was well received. Over the past few days, Raider R's fame began to flourish. With the new mysterious hero appearing just in the nick of time and vanishing off the scene just as quickly, Raider R started a new buzz throughout the city. Who was the new, mysterious hero? Was he another Lightbot, did he have any relation to Megaman?

It caused an even greater stir in the media when doctor Light confessed that Raider R wasn't one of his creations. In the face of the media, Megaman gave his opinion on the new hero, '_Well, he may not be my brother by blood, but we strife for the same causes. So he is indeed my brother in arms._'

Protoman had always been camera shy, so he naturally avoided the media pretty stalwartly. Regardless, it was for certain that whenever he or Rock were tangled up with other crimes, Raider R graced the scene. Whether there were fires, bank robberies, shoot-outs, or natural disasters; the newcomer was there punctually and quenched the well-needed thirst for justice.

Today was a beautiful, warm spring day with the sun shinning and the birds singing. Roll was outside putting the finishing touches on the front fence. In a few minutes, she would be done putting the fence together. With a hammer in one hand and a nail in the other, Roll drove it home and finished. The girl stood and wiped away perspiration as she admired her work.

'_Not too bad for an amateur_,' Roll thought, smiling, '_And that was a pretty good workout too_!'

"Excuse me miss."

Roll spun around, "Yes? How can I help you?"

A dark haired boy approached her. Roll estimated that he was an adolescent near her age. He stopped a few feet away from the blond robot, "I was just wondering, is this the house of Thomas Light?"

"Yes it is. Why do you ask?"

"Well," the boy rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly at her, "I have a science project coming up and I was wondering--"

"If you could have a tour around the house and speak with doctor Light?" Roll finished his sentence and smiled, "Sure. I hope he's home though. Follow me please."

The dark haired youth smiled and ran until he matched strides with Roll. He glanced down at the girl, "So, are you a new worker for doctor Light?"

"Oh no, I'm his daughter."

The boy blinked, "You are? I never knew the doctor had a daughter."

Roll smiled, "That's because I'm not a media glory hound."

"I didn't even know the doctor had a wife."

Roll gazed up at the boy skeptically, "He doesn't."

The boy looked at her, "He doesn't? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"That's okay."

Roll opened the front door and allowed the newcomer to step in before she did. After she closed the door behind herself, she snatched a note from the door; it looked like her father wouldn't return home until a few hours. Well, it looked like she'd have to entertain the guest herself until he returned from wherever. Roll glanced up at her guest to see that he was walking around the living room.

Roll perked up, "Excuse me."

No response.

"Umm, boy. You there."

He was busy studying a few hanging pictures on the wall. Roll shrugged and walked over to him. She put a hand on his shoulder and the boy jumped, "Oops! Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, but--"

The youth turned to face her, "Oh, uh, my name's Kevin, what's your name?"

Roll blinked then smiled, "I'm Roll, nice to meet you Kevin."

"Like wise Roll," he smiled, "That's an interesting name."

Roll blinked up in thought; did she feel like explaining the origin of her name to Kevin? Nope, it'd be too much work, instead why not lead him to the kitchen and give him something to eat, her father wouldn't be back home until a few hours, "Are you hungry?"

"Pretty famished actually…why?"

"I'll make some lunch. Come on," Roll took the boy's hand, not noticing how red his face turned.

* * *

"No--Kinky, no!"

"Come on, you can't wear that tattered old scarf any longer. And I'll hurt you if you call me that again. No more scarf, you can't wear it."

"Oh yes I can."

"_No_ you can't."

Blues and Kalinka were in the midst of shopping at a flea market although it was more so Kalinka doing all the spending. Blues was just along for the ride, supposedly helping her budget her spending. Everywhere the Russian girl went, Blues floated behind her by a few steps. It was only recently when Kalinka made her way to a stand selling scarves that she engaged her temporary shadow.

Kalinka picked up a bright red scarf, "How about this one?"

Blues crossed his arms and looked away. Kalinka laughed at Blues' obstinacy, "Oh come on Blue-boy! That old thing is tired."

"Tired? What are you talking about Kinks? This scarf is debonair, suave." Blues threw the scarf around his neck and took a dashing pose.

Kalinka seemed less than impressed, "…Is that so Casanova?"

She walked past him, intentionally bumping into him, "Well, if I can't buy a new scarf for you then forget it. Let's get back. I promised Rollie I'd play her in checkers."

"…Why? You'd only loose _again_."

Kalinka stopped in the middle of her stride, although her back was facing him, Blues could still tell that she was fuming, "_If_ you keep mouthing off to me Blues, I'll go back to one of those stands and buy a gun."

Blues feigned surprise, "Why Kinky! How could you say such a thing! …You'd need a license and they certainly don't sell 'em to psychos."

"…That's it; I'm going back there to get a weapon."

"Hey Kinks."

Kalinka stopped and glanced over her shoulder. Blues was smiling back at her, giving her a show of one of his rare smiles, "Wanna race home?"

A devious smile curled on the girl's face; she seemed to have forgotten her plan about purchasing a firearm, "You've got it shades!"

With that, Kalinka spun around and pushed passed Blues laughing, "Later loser!"

Staying stationary, Blues watched until Kalinka was nearly out of sight. When the girl was just a speck, Blues smirked and scanned the road. He walked until he came to a barren street. After double-checking that there were no extra bystanders, Blues leapt easily onto a rooftop and started darting to and fro.

The idea of simply warping home had entered his mind, but where would the fun in that be? The prospect of a challenge excited the warrior; and besides, it was time to show Kalinka just who she was dealing with.

* * *

"So no one else is here, huh?" Kevin asked, reclined in Blues' favorite chair at the kitchen table.

"No, both of my brothers are out, and I guess our dog is too. Although dad should be home in a few hours," Roll finished tying the bow for her apron, "So, what would you like to eat?"

He shrugged his shoulders, looking away, "I have no preferences Rollie."

'_Rollie_?' Roll arched an inquisitive eyebrow and shrugged, thinking nothing of it. She turned her back and set to work, washing various vegetables in the sink. She sighed slightly; she remembered the good old days when she had liked cooking. Now it was just boring and repetitive.

First the veggies need to be cleaned, then chopped, and finally the minced vegetables were stewed, fried, sautéed or whatever. How could she have ever actually enjoyed doing this kind of stuff day in and day out? Well, it was too late to back out of cooking now; she had promised to feed a guest.

As Roll was washing the celery, she paused, loosing her grip on the vegetation. She could swear that a pair of eyes were latched onto her. It made her feel pretty uneasy, but after she reassured herself that paranoia was playing dirty tricks, the platinum-blond continued her toil. She removed the celery from the sink and started washing the carrots hastily.

It was only when Kevin was sure Roll was good and busy that he turned to study the girl's anatomy. She seemed to be clueless, too diligent with her work to notice his wandering eyes. He smiled, getting a good glimpse of the girl; '_Not_ _bad, not too bad at all: nice slim build and a heavenly face.'_

Kevin turned back to the table and caught glimpse of a vase. It was the centerpiece on the table and it was filled with lovely tulips ranging from shades of fuchsia to gold, "Did someone pick these flowers for you Roll?"

"What?" She glanced over her shoulder, "Oh on! I picked those from my garden. Grew 'em myself!"

Roll stopped her work momentarily and picked up the flowers. She smiled, forgetting her newfound anxiety for a moment as she admired her creations, "Aren't they lovely?"

"You know, when you hold up those flowers, they look ugly."

"What? How?" Roll furrowed her brow looking at them, "These tulips are perfectly beautiful!"

"Well, for one thing," Kevin smiled, "they pale in comparison to you…"

Roll raised both eyebrows as Kevin's smile grew; the look of surprise on her face delighted him. She blushed from his compliment and smiled. Roll suddenly found the flowers interesting as she played with them, twirling their green stems. The girl looked up when she felt a shadow cover her. Roll blinked and gasped, jumping back slightly. He was nearly on top of her, "Haha, thanks for the compliment."

"You're so beautiful."

"Ah, thanks again Kevin."

The girl blinked when she realized something, he wasn't backing away! In fact, Roll dropped the flowers when she realized that the teenager was advancing on her position. She shrank away from him skeptically as he approached her; there was an odd gleam in his eyes.

What in the heck was he doing? Roll bumped into the edge of the counter, glancing back at the boy wearily, "Ke-kevin, can I help you…?"

"I just want to see the flowers."

Cerulean eyes darted from the floor back up at the boy; they were pooled on the floor beside his feet in a tangle of stems and petals. If he wanted them so badly, then all he had to do was stoop down and pick them up.

Roll gasped when the small of her back hit the counter; trapped. Somehow, she knew that he wasn't going to stop advancing. Roll grimaced slightly as her hand morphed into a buster; she was hopeful that he was going to stop, but she certainly wasn't naive. The blond narrowed her eyes as her defensive mechanisms kicked in; the buster behind her back started to hum and glow forebodingly.

_'Well, I never really liked this guy anway..._'

Just as Roll feared that she'd have to brandish her weapon, the boy was grabbed, spun around, and decked with a nasty left hook to the face. Roll wouldn't have believed it with her two eyes, but Kevin was hurled all the way into the living room. Standing where he had been seconds prior, Blues stood cracking his knuckles with an angry Kalinka behind him.

"I think you should leave now," somehow Blues had managed to make his voice sound both controlled yet terrible at the same time; both smoldering and arctic, "Well…on second thought."

Blues' hand transformed into a buster and Kevin gulped, looking as if he had seen a ghost. The mysterious android approached slowly, with a terrible, ominous air about him.

Kalinka looked from Blues to the boy then gulped; if she didn't step in soon, Blues looked more than liable to kill the idiot! Kalinka broke passed the cool, yet seething android and stopped in front of the shaking human.

"Why you wimpy jerk!" Kalinka kicked the boy in the side before he managed to scuttled away, "You better get out of here before we do worse!!"

Kalinka smiled in satisfaction as she watched the teenager run away, '_What a wimp. Jeez, it wasn't even worth getting Blues involved._'

Kalinka turned to see Blues approaching his younger sibling. The mysterious android gently raised his sister's chin so he could look into her eyes, his voice came out as soft as a purr, "You okay Roll?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Roll looked over at her buster and instantly morphed it into her hand. She smiled sheepishly.

"That guy was a wuss," Kalinka crossed her arms, looking unimpressed, "If he didn't run off I would have beat him good."

She stepped up beside Roll and patted her shoulders. Blues studied his silent sister a second longer, "Roll, how did he get in here? Did he break in?"

Roll blinked; oh no, there was no way she could tell him the truth. 'Yeah, I just let him in.' How in the world would that sound? Roll hoped that her brother failed to notice her silence as she thought up a good answer. No excuse on earth would fly past her brother. The inevitably of being screwed over made the blond feel like crying. An idea hit Roll, '_Crying!_'

Roll suddenly took both Blues and Kalinka by surprise as she darted over to her brother and hugged him, gripping him tightly. The waterworks were launched, "Oh Blues! I was so scared. I thought. I thought--"

"It's okay Roll, we're here now," it was Kalinka.

Roll felt her brother's hand rubbing her back, Kalinka spoke again, "Come on, I bet Roll's all worn out. She should get some rest. All this stress wears a person down."

Wordlessly, Blues swept his baby sister into his arms and carried her upstairs, onward to her bed.

* * *

Kalinka leaned against the simulator's control panels as she watched the two brothers spar. While doctor Light was away, she had volunteered to oversee the heroes training session. The door creaked open and Roll entered. 

Kalinka smiled, "Hey there Egg-roll, feeling any better?"

Roll arched an eyebrow, "Huh? What are you--" she paused, suddenly remembering, "Oh, uh yeah. I feel much better. Sleep was all I needed."

Kalinka smiled, "…That's good…"

Roll smiled as she stepped beside Kalinka to join her in a front row seat of Rock's and Blues' fight. Roll's eyes darted to and fro as she watched her brothers zip around at lightning fast speeds. With each move they made, Roll evaluated it—deciding whether or not she herself would have done the same thing in their place. Megaman and Protoman continued their fight in cyberspace, exchanging blow for blow.

Kalinka looked at the platinum blonde beside her, evaluating her, it was time to start some lighthearted conversation; it had been quite the day for the robot girl, "So."

Roll blinked and looked at Kalinka. The Russian girl leaned a hip into the control panel as her dark eyes focused on youngest lightbot. Although Kalinka didn't look unfriendly, her eyes had taken on an odd gleam, as if she was plotting something. Roll blinked, feeling a wee bit uneasy, "Uh, yeah?"

"I never got the chance to ask, but you decided to cut your hair?"

"Oh yeah!" Roll giggled while Kalinka smiled, "You're the first person to notice!"

"Of course," Kalinka smirked, "It's a good look for you Rollie-pollie. Well, Blues noticed and so did doctor Light. Well…pretty much everyone but Rock did. But that's not much of a surprise, huh?"

Roll beamed, "No, not at all!"

"So, is there anything you want to tell me Roll?"

Roll snapped her head to Kalinka. She blinked in stupor at the taller girl, "Huh? Like what?"

The golden blonde smiled darkly at her, "Oh come on now Roll. It's obvious you've been hiding something. So many new changes: the new older physique, the new cute hair cut. So spill. What's _really_ going on."

"..Ah…" Roll's face blanched from fear; had Kalinka really figured her out so soon? How? How could Kalinka have caught onto her so fast? She was obviously onto the idea that Roll had made a few changes for a reason. Roll looked away and gripped the edges simulator tightly; would her days as Raider R be over? They were just beginning.

She gulped as her eyes darted around, focusing on anything but Kalinka. She had to think of something fast, or she was screwed. Roll finally glanced back at the girl when she finally heard Kalinka clear her throat, "Oh come ON! I'm not Blues here! Just tell me!"

"Well…" Roll muttered, barely louder than a whisper, "I…I…"

"Who's the guy you're trying to impress?"

"…What?"

Kalinka's smile turned downright devilish, "Don't try to act all innocent with me missy. You change your physique, get a new do, it's obvious that you're trying to catch someone's eye. Now spill, who's the guy you're trying to impress? Do I know him? Is he tall? Is he cute?"

So Kalinka's entire interrogation was all about a secret love she assumed Roll had. The lightbot felt relief flood her. For a second she thought her real secret had been discovered. She released an exasperated sigh, "Huh."

Roll smiled, "Well, I'm actually not seeing--"

She paused as an image of Jett's face passed before her eyes. To a certain extent, Kalinka was right, although he wasn't a love interest. They were just good friends. Right? Roll mused about her new best friend. Her thoughts carried her back to the Sapphire Lake Park.

She saw the emerald green tufts of grass, the multitude of tall trees, and of course, the lovely Sapphire Lake itself. When the sun reflected upon its blue surface, it sparkled, mirroring thousands of shinning, winking diamonds. Roll found herself being brought to an apple tree where she saw two figures entwined under the shade of the tree.

Roll saw a platinum-blond girl, a past version of herself lying ontop of Jett. Instead of moving her away, he inched closer to her slowly, almost painfully so. Roll saw that her younger self followed suit, appearing hopeful.

Roll's face colored slightly as she smiled at the recollection. Kalinka laughed then shook a finger at her, "Ah-ha! See, I knew it! We'll have to catch up on this later! Right now we have to get these two outta this thing before they kill each other."

Roll and Kalinka joined in on the battle just as Megaman and Protoman had both attacked each other in a fury. They were at point-blank range punching, kicking, and maneuvering around each other. Kalinka gasped when she saw them wrestling, firing busters at each other, "Aren't they a little too close to be doing that!? That's dangerous! They'll blow each other's heads off!!"

Indeed Megaman and Protoman were grappling, arms interlocked in a match of strength. In one hand, Mega wrestled against his brother and with the other he had his buster drawn, aiming for Protoman. In their struggle neither brother had managed to actually land a hit with their busters. After struggling for a few minutes more, Proto resorted to belting his brother across the face with his armored hand.

Kalinka and Roll gasped, surprised by the brutality of the attack. Megaman winced, stumbling back blindly. Proto capitalized, firing up his buster and sending an arch of energy at Mega. The Russian girl gasped, "We gotta stop the simulator! That could really hurt Rock!"

Unlike her counterpart, Roll seemed slightly more cool, "Don't worry, I think he'll be just fine."

With Proto's last shot, a ball of blue plasma raced toward the blue hero. With the energy drawing closer, Mega's face was washed blue. Kalinka gulped, fearing the worst, but at the last possible second Megaman opened his eyes and dodged.

He side-stepped, wound-up, and unleashed a blue torrent of plasma at his brother. Protoman smirked as he glided out of the way smoothly, encountering little trouble with his brother's latest attack.

"If I've told you once, then I've told you multiple times, precision is necessary when you fight," Protoman quipped.

Just as soon as Protoman had spoken, Megaman appeared right behind him. Roll blinked; how had Rock managed to do that? He just appeared out of thin air like some sort of phantom!

Mega launched his fist into his brother's stomach, causing the taller android to stagger backwards. Protoman smiled, more so grimacing as he retaliated by pulling the shield from his back and bashing his brother's head with it. Rock backed way, rubbing his head as he stared back at Blues ruefully, "Oww! That hurt! What's the big idea!?"

"Well, didn't you just punch me?"

"Yeah, but that's totally different! I didn't whack you in the head with a heavy…painful shield!!"

"_Hey guys!"_ It was Kalinka's voice.

"Yeah Kinky we hear you."

Kalinka closed her eyes and snarled; why did he call her by such a name? She put her hands on her hips and frowned when Roll stepped up to the microphone to speak, "_Are you done? We have to stop you guys before you kill each other_."

"Roll?" Blues turned to the sound of her voice, "Feeling better?"

Roll colored slightly; this was really starting to come back and bite her in the--, "I'm fine Blues! I feel much better now. But uh, are you guys done yet?"

"Well," Blues placed a hand on his hip, "I'm not sure, I feel like I have another round in me. Don't you agree Rock?"

Rock smiled and nodded his head agreeably, "Yup, yup!"

This time, it was Kalinka, "_Look, how about this_?"

Rock and Blues glanced up overhead and a set of hovering red and white targets phased in. Blues frowned slightly, "So what is this supposed to do?"

"_Well, instead of fighting Rock, why not call it a day and end with target practice?"_

Blues looked at the targets, still looking unimpressed, "Hmm, sorry no dice."

"_Well what about this_?" This time it was Roll's voice.

Suddenly the targets began to move, darting around the cyberspace almost as crazily as ping pong balls. Rock gasped and ducked as a target zipped past. Blues, even in the midst of the flying targets, stayed unmoving with his arms locked over his chest, "A little better, but I'm still up for sparring."

"_Hey Blues, if you destroy all two hundred of these targets in a minute you…" _Roll smiled as she gazed at the girl beside her; oh yeah, it was time for some payback with all the boyfriend cracks Kalinka made, "_can have a date with Kalinka_."

"_WHAT!_?"

A small smile graced Blues' face, his visor glinted, "What did you just say Roll?"

"_I said, if you destroy all two hundred of these targets in a minute you can have a date with Kalinka_. _How's that?"_

"_NO! DON'T YOU LISTEN TO HER SHADES_!!"

Too late; Blues spun to face them with an evil grin. Kalinka gulped and blanched at such a dark smile, she whimpered and stepped away from the simulator. Roll burst out laughing, finding the uncharacteristically feeble expression on Kalinka's face hilarious.

The dark blond looked at the android girl and glared; her face was flushed from embarrassment and anger, "Roll! Just who's side are you on!? I am NOT going to--"

Blues however, seemed as if she hadn't even spoken, "You got it Rollie-pollie, start the clock."

Kalinka's mouth dropped as Roll started the clock. Blues started blasting around in a frenzy, removing the flying targets with ease. Rock left the simulator and strolled beside his sister. Kalinka studied Blues as she watched the warrior perform amazingly, '_Is he trying hard at this? Does he really want a date that badly_?'

The honey-haired girl blinked, then looked away. Her face colored even more vividly at the thought. Her contemplation was disrupted when she heard giggles. Kalinka glanced over and glared slightly when she set her sight upon Roll, "…One way or other, I'm going to get you for this…"

Rock gasped, "Oh Roll! You cut your hair didn't you! It looks awesome!"

Roll and Kalinka exchanged bored looks before they looked back at Rock.

"…"

* * *

Forte slowly strolled through Skull fortress. He had just slipped out of one long corridor to find himself in another. He felt as if he was entrapped with these boring gray brick walls and dusty floors encased all around. Forte looked at his trusted companion by his side for a second, he wondered if he was bored as well.

Sensing his master's eyes, Treble looked up at him as he trailed beside the boy loyally. With each step, Treble's tail swished to the rhythm of his steps.

Just as Forte thought he was doomed to wander around another empty hallway, he heard a couple of voices. He stopped walking and listened in. Treble halted as well, now finding the voices that had piqued his master's interest. It sounded as if the voices were behind the door they had passed. Forte narrowed his eyes, honing in on the conversation; what? There was nothing else better to do.

The first sounded like Quickman, and if he didn't know any better, the second sounded like Gutsman.

"Did you hear about that new robot?"

"Uh, who?"

Forte rolled his eyes; yep, that was Gutsman.

"You idiot, that Raider R character.

"Oh…yeah."

"Why that ingrate!" Forte looked upward thoughtfully; now, just who's whiny, squeaky voice was that? Oh, it was Cutman. Just what was Wily thinking when he manufactured his whiny, squelch for a voice, "How dare he make a spectacle of me in front of bratty human….brats!!"

A snicker; that was Quick.

"What! Are you laughing at me? How dare you laugh at me you—you lout!!"

"Anyways…Do you think that guy's another one of those…" Quickman paused purposefully, trying to draw out tension with his words, "Lightbots!?"

Cutman sounded disgusted, "I hope not!!"

"Maybe, but either way, remember when Wily ordered me to invade Honolulu?" Gutsman's voice rumbled.

"And?"

"And Megaman stopped me!! I thought I had him beat. I mean, just when I was about to throw a car on him, BAM! He comes out of nowhere with this super-charged shot!!"

Quickman shook his head, "I know. Isn't he always full of surprises? That's why I can't stand that little blue twerp."

"Yeah I know. He's _such_ a loser."

"He's stupid."-Quick.

"Ugly…"-Guts

"Fat…"-Cutman

"Smelly…" Gutsman paused, "…Well, I've never actually _smelt_ the blue burlap sack before, but you get the idea."

"Well, at least you didn't have to face his brother, you know, proto-what's-his-face with the oversized glasses. Why does he wear those things? Is he blind or something? Or is he just ugly?"

They all snickered, "So he beat you too, huh Quick?"

A scoff, "Yeah right, he just happened to get a lucky shot in. I was kickin' his ass good!"

"You mean 'well'; 'I was kickin' his ass well.'"

"…Don't correct me again Cut."

Bored with their idle chat, Forte pushed the door open with Treble in tow, "Hello ladies, enjoying more gossip as usually?"

Quickman smirked, "Well dog my cats, Forte has decided to grace us with a visit. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out running an errand for ol' Wily?"

Forte weighted his gaze between Quickman, Gutsman and the shrimpy little Cutman. In Skull fortress, there were only a few robotmasters Forte found that he could stand. Quickman happened to be one of those guys. The ebony warrior had little opinion on Gutsman; the guy was an idiot, but for some odd reason he always followed Quick around.

That was pretty much the reason why Forte didn't mind him so much. As for Cutman, the high-strung, squeaky little nematode was by far one of Forte's least favorite people. If Wily wasn't around, he would have easily strung the little prude on a flagpole somewhere.

"Naw, not today," then Forte frowned deeper, "Come to think of it, he hasn't asked me to do a single errand for awhile now. Except the occasional retrieval of eggs, milk, and cheese."

Gutsman suddenly looked happy, "Ah, fondue…"

Both Forte and Quickman turn to look at him doubtfully; Quickman arched an eyebrow as Forte glared back, "Err, sorry. It's just that you mentioned stuff that made me want fondue…You guys know how I can't help myself when it comes to food."

"That happens," Forte looked away, "…when you're an idiot."

"Hey!!"

Cutman laughed, "Good one Forte."

Forte blinked, not even acknowledging that he spoke. Quickman had to fight against the serious urge to burst out into laughter.

"But," Quickman's smirk disappeared, "You did make a valid point about Wily. I haven't seen him for awhile now. He's usually walking around, throwing out orders to everyone. Nowadays he's just been cooped up in his lab and he won't let anyone go down there."

Cutsman puffed up his chest, trying to look important, "Well, I go down there all the time!"

Forte arched an eyebrow, responding to Quick's statement, "Really?"

"Yeah!" Gutsman pouted, "He won't even let me in there anymore!!"

"Well, you're a heavy-footed idiot though," Forte ignored Gutsman's indignant cry, "What in the hell is he working on down there?"

Quickman shrugged, "My guess is another robot, maybe like you Forte. The only assignment he's given me is to raid metal manufacturing plants. And Wily's really picky about the type of metal I'm supposed to retrieve."

"What's the name of the metal?"

Quickman shrugged, "I dunno."

Forte glared at him incredulously, "What do you mean you don't know!? So then how do you know what you're supposed to be stealing!?"

Quickman crossed his arms and gazed skyward, "Well, it has a distinct look. If you hold the metal into the light, then it'll reflect a coppery, red color."

"Hn," Forte seemed appeased with the answer.

Gutsman gasped out loud as recollection hit him, "OH YEAH! I remember now! A couple of days ago, Wily asked me to steal some paint! Tons of it! I pretty much stole every color!"

Quickman looked up at the towering robot, "Is that so?"

"Yeah! I got red, green, blue, yellow…"

Cutman glared, "Oh yeah!? Well the mission Wily had me go on was _so_ much more important!"

"…And then I got aquamarine, burgundy, cyan…"

"Hey! Are you even listening to me!?"

"…Fuchsia, mauve, turquoise…"

Forte crossed his arms and glared at the floor. The well-polished tiles allowed him to meet the eyes of his reflection, '_So Wily had Quick running around finding special scraps of metal, and he had Guts retrieving paint and in his lab he had blueprints…just what are you building down there old man?'_

"Hey Forte!"

The black-armored robot blinked, startled out of his thoughts. However, his normal glare replaced his befuddled expression, "What?"

"So where have you been lately?" Quickman crossed his arms and gave an arch smile, "You never show up around here that much anymore."

"Yeah," Gutsman nodded his head, "We see you almost as much as Wily! And that's not often! So where are you?"

"Out," Forte answered with a grunt, "That's all you need to know."

Forte turned, heading toward the exit with Treble only a few steps behind him. He stopped walking when he heard the robotic trio whispering to each other.

"Do you wanna know what I really think he's been doing?" Quickman lowered his voice.

"What?"

"Why, he's probably out on love crusades," Quickman smiled, "Sweeping through the night, rescuing damsels in distress, whispering sweet nothings into the ears of fair maidens."

Gutsman laughed, making his deep guffaw echo in the room, "Yeah! I can see it now, the dark knight riding through the night with all the girlies calling out to him!!"

Cutman chuckled, and raised his voice a couple of octaves, trying to sound feminine, " 'Oh Forte! Oooh! My hero, you're so brave! Kiss me! Kiss me you devil!'"

Cutman batted his eyelashes as Quick acted as if he fainted into Gutsman's arms. Both Quick and Guts fell out into fitful laughter. Quick dropped to the floor, pounding the floor with his fist as Guts held his stomach, trying to contain his laughter. Cutman was in his own world, twirling in ballerina circles. Their laughter stopped dead when a searing ball of plasma flew by, missing Cutman by inches.

They all looked at each other, then back at Forte, who had his buster out and a snarl in place. Although his face was a little more rouged than normal, he still managed to look utterly furious, "I'm _still_ right here you morons! I'm not deaf!"

Forte turned out the door growling, striding down the hallway furiously, "…Bastards…"

He stopped mid-step when he heard more laughter from the room. Another plasma shot hit the room, "Okay! Okay! We'll stop now! Just stop freakin' shooting at us!!"

* * *

The complete Light household was ecstatic. For a change the occupants weren't worrying about Wily or robotmaster attacks, but today was special because it was a date that was their focal point. Even the old doctor himself was elated; who knew that his reserved, eldest son would be one to go out on dates? So when Rock and Roll sprung the news to their father, he had been excited just like the rest of them.

'_Blues._ _Blues? Are you sure we're speaking of the same Blues here? He wears a yellow scarf, loves to whistle, and he--'_

'_Yes dad, Blues, as in your eldest son…'_

'_My goodness, I could actually have grandchildren after all! Why all I have to do is add a couple of adjustments to Bl--'_

'_Dad!!'_

'_Er, sorry kids…But this just wonderful!'_

'_It's a good thing we stopped him Rock.'_

'_Yeah, it looked like he was about to go into weird mode again…'_

With the new, buzzing excitement streaking through the Light household, Roll had volunteered to help get Kalinka ready as Rock and the doctor took the initiative to help Blues. However the mysterious android held true to his standoffish nature and refused their assistance.

He even ended up warping away when he realized that his father and brother were insistent upon readying him for his date.

Roll and Kalinka had gone through two sets of wardrobes before they found the perfect dress. It seemed that whatever outfit Kalinka had liked, Roll dismissed it and vice versa. An hour later, both girls were happy with the chosen dress; a red, elegant knee-length thing. Roll smiled back happily as Kalinka studied her reflection in the mirror, "I can't believe I'm doing this…"

Roll smiled, "And you are, and you look absolutely fabulous!"

"No seriously…Why am I doing this?"

"Because Blues actually did beat the challenge…with twenty seconds to spare."

Kalinka growled, "…Jerk!"

Roll giggled, "Now come on, let's go downstairs. You're going to have so much fun!"

Almost hesitantly, Kalinka made her way downstairs followed by Roll. The nearly white-haired girl led the scowling Kalinka downstairs. Kalinka had her arms crossed over her chest, scanning the crowd meticulously. She saw Rock, doctor Light, and Rush all gazing back up at her. Where was her date? She reached the bottom of the stairs with no mysterious android in sight. Her eyes softened remarkably as she now looked dismayed.

She blinked, anger being replaced by slight distress, '_Where is he?_'

Kalinka blinked as a bundle of fuchsia orchids appeared before her face, "Sorry to keep you waiting Kinks, but I just couldn't decide between the roses or the orchids."

Kalinka raised both eyebrows and smiled, being the perfect epitome of elated happiness, "Blues…"

She approached the tall android until she stood a few inches away. Even though she looked up at him, the top of her golden head barely reached his chin. Kalinka gazed up at him happily, big brown eyes shinning up at him. Blues was dressed in his normal street clothes; the biggest difference was that he was also wearing a long trench coat.

He still opted to wearing the opaque shades and the long, yellow scarf. Blues gazed at the smaller girl with a growing smile. Just as he thought Kalinka would fall into his arms like one of those heroines in the movies, the blond replaced her dreamy, soft smile with a ferocious war scowl and slammed him in the left cheek with a perfected right hook.

"Oww!" Blues rubbed his face, "What?"

Rock, Roll, and doctor Light's jaws dropped. Was that supposed to happen? Here she was just looking at him all dreamily, then out of nowhere she assaults him. She just slugged Blues! Rock felt that it was inappropriate to say so, but the girl's technique for her strike was excellent. It looked like she had practiced that and mastered it.

"That was for making me think you were going to stand me up, you jerk!" Kalinka popped her knuckles, scowling at him ominously, "Wait until you try my left!"

Kalinka threw a left as she had promised, but this time Blues avoided it easily. She threw another punch and growled, seeing as he had dodged that one too. Giving up completely, Kalinka took the second best route, "Dummy! Jerk! Idiot! Moron!"

Blues laughed, holding his hands up in a defensive position, "Okay, okay! I'm sorry Kinks. There, all better now?"

"No," Kalinka smirked, "Now, you're going to have to take off your shades for our date. I want to look into your big--"

Blues removed the shades in a moment's notice and Kalinka's sentence died as she met his eyes, "…Pretty gray eyes…"

The gray-eyed boy smiled, "Am I forgiven?"

Kalinka nodded her head, looking as if she was in a trance, "Uh-huh."

Roll covered her mouth and giggled as Rock leaned in closer to her, "Hey Roll, is Kalinka drooling?"

"Yes Rock, I think she _is_ drooling over our brother!"

Rock smiled as Roll laughed again. The android girl smiled, all Kalinka needed were the floating pink hearts around her head, and they'd be in business. Doctor Light stepped up beside the two children, he placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "I hope you two have a swell time on your date. And Blues, on behalf of Kossack, have Kalinka back at a sane hour."

Blues smiled, "Can do doctor."

He looked over to Kalinka, "Ready to go Kinks?"

Kalinka nodded her head wordlessly. Blues smiled and offered her his arm. She blinked, then gave him a sincere smile and took his arm. Blues smirked as he pressed Kalinka close to him and she gasped. They both vanished in a ray of red light. Behind them, the sounds of Rock and Roll cheering filled the air.

* * *

_

* * *

_

_R_**a_i_d_e_r**_ R_

**_

* * *

_**

* * *

_-Leave a Review and Alice Shall renew! _

_-And yes, Kalinka is a dangerous woman… _

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


End file.
